Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom goes down to retrieve a loose ball while under pressure from Saracens flyhalf Fergus Burke in London on Saturday night. Photo: Reuters
Scoring only five points with a strong wind behind them in the first half ultimately cost the Bulls as they went down 27-5 to Saracens in their Champions Cup opener in London on Saturday night.
The Pretoria side would probably never have played in such difficult conditions before – which were reminiscent of a typically gloomy day on UCT’s ‘Green Mile’ ground in Cape Town – as Storm Darragh made its way across the UK, which even led to the postponement of some English Premier League matches.
But the Bulls failed to make the most of playing with the powerful wind behind them in the opening 40 minutes, with Saracens giving them a lesson in the second half about how to take advantage of the elements.
Jake White’s team can be commended for taking on the Sarries defence with ball-in-hand, but they needed to kick much more downfield and drive their opponents into their 22.
The visitors were also not rewarded enough by referee Craig Evans for their scrum dominance, but the lack of tactical kicking from halfbacks Embrose Papier and Johan Goosen was puzzling in the conditions.
The Bulls put the first points on the board in the 11th minute, where a series of powerful carries by the forwards ended with wing Sebastian de Klerk diving over in the corner off a superb Willie le Roux long pass.
But that was as good as it got for the South Africans, and White and the players will be disappointed by the performance and the result as they had the firepower to emerge victorious at the StoneX Stadium.
The Bulls stood strong in defence on a number of occasions once Saracens found their rhythm, but the white wall was breached in the 23rd minute when prop Rhys Carre barged over from close range.
Springboks such as No 8 Cameron Hanekom and Gerhard Steenekamp made some decisive carries up the middle, but didn’t have enough support from their teammates – while it didn’t help when flank Cobus Wiese went off injured in the 34th minute.
Sarries flyhalf Fergus Burke slotted a penalty before the break to put his team into an 8-5 lead, and they never relinquished their advantage.
A crucial miss from the Bulls before halftime saw a five-metre lineout drive being held up by Saracens, and then it was mainly one-way traffic in the second half.
The English outfit played the conditions perfectly, forcing the Bulls backwards with grubbers and long kicks downfield.
The Bulls also suffered two massive blows early in the second half when replacement flank Jannes Kirsten and wing De Klerk received yellow cards for a dangerous tackle and repeated infringements respectively within two minutes of each other.
So, they were always going to battle with just 13 men, and Saracens pounced immediately when England hooker Jamie George rumbled over from a line-out drive.
Just before the hour mark, No.8 Tom Willis dotted down after Papier’s box-kick was charged down, and the match was over as a contest by then.
The Bulls struggled to win their own line-outs as well due to the strong wind and the presence of star England lock Maro Itoje, and were unable to string any meaningful phases together on attack.
Saracens eventually secured the four-try bonus point when replacement No.8 Ben Earl showed tremendous strength to score in the corner with 15 minutes to go.
The Bulls will now have to pick themselves up quickly for next Saturday’s must-win encounter against the Northampton Saints at Loftus Versfeld (3pm start).
Points-Scorers
Bulls 5 – Try: Sebastian de Klerk.
Saracens 27 – Tries: Rhys Carre, Jamie George, Tom Willis, Ben Earl. Conversions: Fergus Burke (2). Penalty: Burke (1).
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