Online Reporter
The All Blacks stomped their way forward, smashing a poor Vodacom Bulls side 50-19 in their Greatest Rivalry Tour fixture at Loftus Versfeld.
While it was expected the Bulls would test the All Blacks, it turned out to be a one-sided affair, where one side was clearly in form and the other was stuck in the middle of their pre-season.
And to be honest, if you miss 42 tackles against the All Blacks you will always come off second best. And while the tourists will be smiling, playing franchises in pre-season who can only play in patches, must be reviewed when the tour is over. While the excitement of the tour will now pivot towards the test, and the wisdom of playing franchise matches in the middle of the pre-season will be something that will be debated the first half certainly didn’t do the tour justice.
STARK DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIDES
The All Blacks played like they were desperate to be a part of next Saturday’s test squad, while the Bulls certainly looked like they didn’t want to be there. You can talk about a pre-season and rust and all that, but commitment is something that shouldn’t be a pre-season issue.
This is, of course, the team’s one chance at facing the All Blacks in a unique game like this. And like the Sharks did on Tuesday, their effort, especially in the first half, was embarrassing.
Because while the 30 000 crowd that turned up looked to their side to put up a fight, they found them overshadowed by an All Black pack that beat them up up front.
The sight of a Bulls team losing the physical battle isn’t one you see often at Loftus Versfeld, but on the night, there were few forwards who could hold their heads up high. The scrum — missing the indomitable Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp, was reasonable, but nowhere near the standards that the Bulls needed for this game. And to be honest, even with a pre-season there are some warning signs ahead for the URC.
It is understandable — a player like JF van Heerden last played for the Bulls almost a year ago— and it is clear the Bulls were nowhere near they needed to be for this game.
LOUW AND GROBBIES MADE A DIFFERENCE
It was only when Elrigh Louw and Johan Grobbelaar, ironically the only two current Springboks released for the fixture, took the field that the Bulls looked pretty decent and found some sort of parity, but it was only for a while. —SuperSport.
