Bulls player ratings: Willie le Roux has a ‘shocker’ as Pretoria outfit fail to benefit from fantastic front five
Willie le Roux in action for the Bulls and prop Wilco Louw.
Following a disappointing 29-19 defeat to the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, here are the player ratings for the Bulls.
15 Devon Williams: In a poor day for the Pretoria outfit, their backs struggled to make an impact, including Williams, who failed to test the visiting defence. 5
14 Canan Moodie: A huge talent but not a great day for the Springbok. Did a couple of good things but the Bulls failed to take advantage of their forward dominance. 5
13 David Kriel: The centre took on kicking duties but he was awry on a few occasions, and it wasn’t the only facet which he struggled in. Both with and without a ball, it was a bad day at the office. 4
12 Harold Vorster: Had a better game than his team-mate but the centre partnership were ultimately ineffective throughout the clash. 5
11 Sergeal Petersen: Struggled to impact the game like the rest of the back three, with the Sharks by far the greater threat behind the scrum. 5
Playmaking issues
10 Willie le Roux: A lot of the Bulls‘ issues in this URC loss ultimately came because their half-backs failed to fire. Le Roux, who has been shifted from full-back, did not ignite his outside backs, while he was also sin-binned for a cynical infringement. Replaced early in the second period after a shocker. 4
9 Embrose Papier: A good start on his 100th appearance by playing a role in the first try but did not impress after that. Papier and Le Roux were outplayed by the Sharks’ playmaking duo. 5
8 Nizaam Carr: The back-row was part of the loose trio that failed to make much impact in the loose. The pack dominated but they needed more front foot ball from their big carriers. 6
7 Reinhardt Ludwig (c): The lineout went well and Ludwig was a key part of that as he won plenty of ball and put pressure on the Sharks’ ball. 7
6 Marco van Staden: Set up the first try for Jan-Hendrik Wessels but that was as good as it got for Van Staden. Couldn’t quite find the dominance at the breakdown that he usually gets. 6
Super front five
5 JF van Heerden: The youngster is a real talent and made his presence known here, especially in the set-piece. A very good performance at set-piece, but the backs let him down. 8
4 Ruan Vermaak: See Van Heerden. A dominant presence in the lineout, on both the Bulls’ ball and the Sharks. Also put it about in the loose in what was a fine individual display. 8
3 Wilco Louw: A monstrous scrummaging performance yet again from the tighthead, who destroyed the Sharks throughout his time on the field. 8
2 Johan Grobbelaar: It certainly wasn’t the greatest first half from the Bulls, but the hooker did his best to turn the tide, winning a turnover at a critical time. The hooker then touched down twice in the second period, but it was not enough. 8
1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels: Like Louw, Wessels enjoyed a fine game, consistently getting his side field position via scrum penalties. Also got over the tryline himself before being replaced by the equally effective Gerhard Steenekamp. 8
Replacements: Steenekamp unsurprisingly continued to give the Bulls scrum dominance, but the rest struggled to impact the match. While Le Roux was poor, Boeta Chamberlain perhaps showed why the Springboks full-back has been shifted to 10 as he did not improve matters. 4
