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It was always likely to be a bridge too far, and in the end the Vodacom Bulls’ European Champions Cup campaign ended with a whimper and not a bang as they were hopelessly outclassed, conceding nine tries as they went down 59-22 against Northampton Saints in their quarterfinal at Franklin Gardens on Saturday night.
There were howls of anger from all over Europe when the Bulls decided to change 13 players from last weekend’s win over Lyon and bring a virtual second squad to the quarterfinal.
Nonetheless, there was always hope that the Bulls would put up a fight in a fairytale outing where they would prove their detractors wrong and provide a game that would be talked about for generations.
But alas, that was all a pipe dream.
It was a distant hope that a team that would have had to make their second trip to the Northern Hemisphere in two weeks with players who hadn’t played for months would be able to stand up to the top team in the Premiership.
And while they were brave on a cold night up in England, they were never playing on a level playing field.
The cracks started in the first half, where the Bulls conceded four tries in the opening 24 minutes, and the defensive frailties were on full display.
What made it palatable was the fact that they fought hard in the first half and scored three tries, going into the break down by just six points.
So there was hope, but as they say hope can kill you.
It was a surprise that the Saints didn’t make more of the massive gaps in the midfield where Henry Immelmann played his first game in months in a midfield partnership with Stravino Jacobs, who had just returned from injury.
Probably the best you could say of the Bulls is the fact that they kept the scoreline down to 59 points as, at times, the home side could easily have added four or five more tries – SuperSport.
Online Reporter