Bulls player ratings: Next Springbok eight shines despite Jake White’s second-string side’s collapse

Following a 59-22 defeat to Northampton Saints in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals, here is how we rated Jake White’s Bulls.

Bulls player ratings v Northampton Saints

15 Devon Williams: Started the season as a loanee, and his performances earned him a full-time contract. While he has been consistent, this was one of his poorest performances for the Bulls. Issues under the high ball, torrid tackle attempts and limited influence on attack. 3

14 Sebastian de Klerk: Scored a stunner from an intercept and was denied a second because of Cameron Hanekom’s illegal tackle. He was a threat whenever he touched the ball but was given little assistance on defence. 6

13 Henry Immelman: A defensive liability with the Saints’ opening two tries coming from his misreads and he made a poor tackle attempt on Ollie Sleightholme for his try too. While he has played in the position before at Montpellier, he looked out of place and off the pace today. 2

12 Harold Vorster: Much like his centre partner, Vorster made costly errors on defence, something that Saints took full advantage of. He wasn’t nearly as poor as his midfield partner and, gave some grunt with his carries and, spread the ball well on occasions and had a nice kick to touch. 5

11 Stravino Jacobs: Another back who struggled defensively as George Hendy and Sleightholme ran amok. He did make one try-saving tackle on Hendy but also had some handling errors and had little success all night. 3

Half-backs

10 Chris Smith: A couple of poor passes put his midfielders under pressure and his influence on proceedings faded as the game went on and after 66 minutes, he was replaced. 4

9 Zak Burger: Several box kicks just weren’t long enough or contestable, and he looked like a scrum-half who was lacking game time and match sharpness and it had a knock-on effect on the rest of the backline’s performance. 4

Nine-try Northampton Saints hammer depleted Bulls to set up Champions Cup semi-final with Leinster

Planet Rugby’s player ratings key.

Loose forwards

8 Cameron Hanekom: A Springbok debut is just a matter of time at this point. Close to the best player on the pitch from both teams even with his yellow card. This may have been a second-string Bulls team, but make no mistake, Hanekom will be in White’s first choice side when it matters. 8

7 Mpilo Gumede: Like Hanekom, Gumede is certainly in that bracket of the Bulls’ best and he showed it once again with a combative and abrasive performance from the first whistle to the last. 7

6 Nizaam Carr : The Bulls back-row was not the reason for their undoing at Franklin’s Gardens as Carr put in a handy shift on his return to the UK. 6

Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi recreate historic Rugby World Cup final try

Tight five

5 JF van Heerden: The only player to start last week against Lyon and against Northampton Saints. The 19-year-old is rising to the challenge in his debut season and put in another tidy shift particularly on defence. He did concede two penalties but he showed his promise again. 6

4 Janko Swanepoel: You know what you get from the second-rower every week: A relentless work rate. He went out and ticked the boxes. 5

3 Mornay Smith: Denied his opposite number a try in a comical moment with the props chasing a grubber. He was holding his side of the scrum together in the first half. 5

2 Akker van der Merwe: His lineout throws continue to be an issue for the livewire hooker and it proved costly again today. He did score a try and was committed around the park. 6 

1 Simphiwe Matanzima: Much like his fellow prop, he was holding the scrum together before Saints got the upper hand. He was caught out near the ruck for the Saints’ first try of the second half and was hooked soon after. 5

Replacements: After the starters managed to make the game somewhat competitive, the bench failed to pick up from there as Saints dominated up front with Dylan Smith and Francois Klopper having mares in the scrum. 3

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