Bulls v Cardiff: Five takeaways as Springboks snub shines again while ‘assist of the season’ steals limelight in hosts’ dominant win
Bulls scrum-half Embrose Papier and Cardiff centre Harri Millard (inset).
Following the Bulls’ 40-7 win over Cardiff in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.
The top line
Cardiff were fastest out of the blocks and caught their opponents by surprise when Harri Millard rounded off as early as the third minute after good work from his midfield partner Ben Thomas in the build-up.
The visitors were then reduced to 14 men when Alun Lawrence was yellow carded for an indiscretion at a breakdown in the eighth minute and the Bulls made full use of their numerical advantage as Marcell Coetzee and Johan Grobbelaar soon crossed for tries.
The hosts continued to hold an edge during the rest of the half and were rewarded with another five-pointer from David Kriel in the 27th minute before some attacking brilliance from Kurt-Lee Arendse set up the bonus-point try for Embrose Papier 10 minutes later.
The Bulls were far from finished and just before half-time Elrigh Louw went over for their fifth try, after a truly special assist from Nizaam Carr – more on that later – to give them a comfortable 33-7 lead at the interval.
Cardiff were much more competitive in the second half and the Bulls had to wait until the 57th minute for their only other five-pointer which was scored by Ruan Vermaak.
That was the final nail in the visitors’ coffin as the rest of the half was evenly contested and the Bulls were deserved winners in the end.
Embrose Papier shines again
The former Springboks scrum-half has been in sublime form for the Bulls this season but his continued absence from the Springboks squad is something which has been baffling for some time now.
Papier was, once again, left out of Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus’ squad for an alignment camp in Cape Town earlier this month but he has put that disappointment behind him judging from his overall performance in this clash.
From the outset, the 28-year-old impressed with his crisp service to his outside backs and he constantly kept the visitors’ defence on their toes with his brilliant attacking skills.
And in the 35th minute, Papier ran a good support line after Arendse launched a counter-attack from deep inside his half before offloading to his scrum-half just outside Cardiff’s 22.
Papier then outpaced the cover defence before crossing for his five-pointer and he continued to ask questions of the Welsh region’s defenders before he was replaced by Paul de Wet on the hour mark.
Despite leaving the field at that stage, Papier’s efforts did not go unrewarded as he walked off with the official player-of-the-match prize after the game.
Assist of the season
The home side delivered an excellent all-round display and held the upper hand in this encounter for long periods with their bonus point secured as early as the 37th minute. The Bulls did not take their foot off the pedal as they continued to launch several waves of attack as the half drew to a close.
The men in blue scored some entertaining tries with the likes of Springboks flyers Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse leading the way on attack.
And in the closing stages of the half, the Loftus Versfeld crowd went wild when Moodie set off on a brilliant attacking run before his progress was halted just outside Cardiff’s 22.
Moodie then offloaded while on the ground and the ball fell at the feet of former Springboks back-row Carr who instinctively booted the ball ahead as two defenders closed in on him.
The ball hurtled ahead for about 30 metres into the onrushing Louw, who was lurking out wide on the right wing. The ball went straight into his arms, and he saw off an attempted tackle from Jacob Beetham before crashing over the whitewash.
The score meant the Bulls were cruising ahead of the second half but the big talking point at the stadium was Carr’s football skills which is surely a contender for the URC’s assist of the season.
🤯 Insane assist by Nizaam Carr! 🔥pic.twitter.com/HuDozWJFKu
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) March 20, 2026
Few positives for Cardiff
The visitors came into this encounter in a confident mood as they were sitting pretty in fifth position in the URC standings while their opponents occupied eighth spot.
Cardiff then had their tails up during this encounter’s early stages when Millard opened the scoring but there were few positives during the rest of this match as the Bulls dominated proceedings.
The home side had the bulk of the possession, and they took advantage of that as they replied with five further tries during the half.
One area where the visitors gave a good account of themselves was at the breakdown where the likes of Lawrence, Taine Basham, Dan Thomas and Millard competed ferociously throughout the match.
Try-scorer Millard led the way in that department as he finished with a match-high two turnovers won but that was of little consolation after his side’s defeat.
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Cameron Hanekom makes long-awaited return
The one-Test Springboks loose forward finally made his return to action after a lengthy stint on the sidelines with a torn hamstring which he sustained in the Bulls’ URC semi-final win over the Sharks last May.
Hanekom, who was last year’s URC Next-Gen Player of the Season, took to the field in the 53rd minute when he replaced Louw and it did not take long for the 23-year-old to make an impact.
This, when he broke off the back of a scrum close to Cardiff’s tryline in the 57th minute and after being stopped just short of the whitewash, Vermaak gathered before diving over for the Bulls’ sixth try.
Hanekom continued to grow as the match progressed as he caught the eye with great physicality either side of the ball and the Bulls faithful, alongside the Boks fans, will be impressed that he came through his cameo unscathed.