Springboks flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse stars as Bulls dominate 14-man Saracens

Springboks wing Kurt-Lee Arendse was in stunning form as the Bulls opened their Champions Cup account with a deserved 27-16 triumph over 14-man Saracens.

Arendse continually tore the English side’s defence apart and helped the South African team touch down three times through David Kriel, Janko Swanepoel, and Canan Moodie.

The pressure they exerted also led to yellow cards for Alex Goode and Maro Itoje before Billy Vunipola was sent off in the early stages of the second period.

To Sarries’ credit, they responded well to Vunipola’s red card and gave themselves hope through Elliot Daly and Theo McFarland tries, but it was not enough.

The Bulls will be disappointed to miss out on a try bonus-point, but thanks to the efforts of Arendse and impressive younger Cameron Hanekom, who was named man of the match, they began the Champions Cup in style.

Click here for teams and scorers

Jake White’s men were superb in the opening period and set the tone early on, manipulating the space to convince Sean Maitland to shoot out of the line and allow Kriel to touch down.

Kriel would prove to be an influential figure and played a key part as Elrigh Louw appeared to score following a free-flowing move, but it was correctly ruled out for a forward pass from the centre.

Johan Goosen made it a 10-point game before Owen Farrell reduced the arrears with a penalty of his own. The respective kickers then traded three-pointers as the South Africans led 13-6, but their lead arguably should have been larger.

Sarries were being completely outplayed and it was resulting in a number of infringements. One such penalty saw Goode sin-binned after he took out Arendse when the Springbok Rugby World Cup winner kicked the ball forward.

That was perhaps harsh, given that the full-back was simply standing still, but the one for Itoje was not after he cynically slapped the ball out of the scrum-half’s hands when off his feet and in an offside position.

With their opponents down to 14 men, the Bulls finally extended their advantage as Swanepoel crossed the whitewash from close range for a 20-6 half-time buffer.

Mark McCall needed a response from his charges in the second period, but it failed to materialise and the hosts continued to cut them apart.

Grab your popcorn this match is already looking TASTY 🍿@BlueBullsRugby get the first score 🔥

Watch Live on @SuperSportTV, @beinsports_FR, @tntsports and @FloRugby  📺 pic.twitter.com/WZjzsbfron

— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 9, 2023

Arendse was often the architect and, after another searing break, the flying wing found Kriel on the left. The centre flung a long pass to Swanepoel in midfield who touched down but, once again, the back’s execution was lacking and it was deemed forward.

That profligacy would not matter, however, as Arendse simply set off on another incredible run and this time Moodie was on hand to do the rest.

It had already been a terrible night for Saracens, but it would get worse when Vunipola was red carded for a nasty no-arms clearout on Cameron Hanekom.

Down to 14 men for the rest of the match, the visitors could have folded, but they showed their resilience to respond superbly to that latest setback.

They would have their best spell of the encounter as Daly and McFarland crossed the whitewash, but the Englishmen failed to get a losing bonus-point as the Bulls secured a deserved win.

READ MORE: Steven Kitshoff unable to stall Bath’s scrum as Ulster fall to heavy Champions Cup defeat