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Jake White's Bulls up to third after bossing Sharks

By PA
Bulls' Marcel Coetzee (captain) (2ndR) celebrates his try with teammates during the United Rugby Championship (URC) match between South African teams The Bulls from Pretoria and The Sharks from Durban at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on October 30, 2022. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP) (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)

Vodacom Bulls climbed to third place in the United Rugby Championship after holding off a Cell C Sharks fightback to record a pulsating 40-27 bonus-point win in Pretoria.

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Tries from Marcell Coetzee, Embrose Papier, Stravino Jacobs and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, plus 20 points from the boot of fly-half Chris Smith, earned the Bulls bragging rights over their South African rivals.

The Sharks overturned a 13-point deficit to briefly lead the derby but scores from Marnus Potgieter, Aphelele Fassi and Phepsi Buthelezi ultimately proved insufficient for victory at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

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A scrappy opening period burst into life just before the interval when David Kriel broke clear to give Coetzee a simple, diving finish under the posts, before Potgieter danced through the home defence at the other end minutes later.

The Sharks, who trailed 16-10 at the break, capitalised on the shift in momentum to briefly lead early in the second period after Fassi crossed following quick ball from right to left and fly-half Boeta Chamberlain, who contributed 12 points across the afternoon, added the extras.

But it proved short-lived as superb quick-fire scores from Papier and fellow replacement Jacobs took the game away from the Durban side, before Wessels added extra gloss, prior to Buthelezi’s late consolation.

BULLS: 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 3. Francois Klopper, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 5. Ruan Nortje, 6. Marcell Coetzee (C), 7. Marco van Staden, 8. WJ Steenkamp, 9. Zak Burger, 10. Chris Smith, 11. Sbu Nkosi, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. Cornal Hendricks, 14. David Kriel, 15. Johan Goosen

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REPLACEMENTS: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Ruan Vermaak, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Stravino Jacobs, 23. Wandisile Simelane

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AM 43 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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