Bulls shake off slow start to crush Zebre in Italy
by KickOff Rugby · KickOffIt might have been a slow start from the Bulls against Zebre in their United Rugby Championship clash in Italy on Saturday, but once the rust wore off, the visitors played some excellent rugby at times as they ran out 47-13 winners on the night, securing a bonus point in the process.
Zebre had the far better of the opening exchanges as the Bulls were pinged several times, with the home side opting for attacking lineouts to keep them pinned in their own 22.
The Zebre maul was working too, and they managed to get over the Bulls’ line, but the visitors' defence did well to hold them up.
They did take a 3-0 lead in the 13th minute through a Tommaso Allan penalty.
The Bulls started to impose themselves on the game but were let down by poor execution, with handling errors a real problem.
But they hit the front at 7-3 in the 27th minute thanks to a penalty try when a rampant maul was illegally brought down by Zebre just metres from the line.
That infringement also brought Zebre a yellow card, handing the Bulls a man advantage.
A further Allan penalty cut the Bulls’ lead to 7-6 in the 32nd minute, but the home side didn’t deal with the restart, with the Bulls securing the ball and sending lock Reinhardt Ludwig over the line for a converted try to push their lead out to 14-6.
That became 21-6 at half-time when Paul de Wet read a Zebre attacking play perfectly to intercept and run 40m to score the Bulls’ third try, as the Pretoria-based side took a healthy lead into the break.
The Bulls took control of the match in the second half, scoring further tries through Ruan Vermaak, Harold Vorster, Ludwig and Zak Burger, while Zebre got a try of their own through Alessandro Fusco.
Scorers
Zebre 13 (6)
Tries: Alessandro Fusco
Conversions: Tommaso Allan
Penalties: Tommaso Allan (2)
Bulls 47 (21)
Tries: Penalty try, Reinhardt Ludwig (2), Paul de Wet, Ruan Vermaak, Harold Vorster, Zak Burger.
Conversions: Curwin Bosch (4), Willie le Roux
Live updates
80' - TRY to the Bulls. Zak Burger. Uncoverted.
Zebre 13-47 Bulls.
78' - TRY to the Bulls. Ludwig is over again from close. Converted.
Zebre 13-42 Bulls
76' - Cynical foul by Jeandre Rudolph. That's a yellow card for the Bulls.
74' - Bulls throwing the ball around, but there's a forward pass while trying to get it wide.
73' - Zebre still on the attack. The Bulls were threatening to run away with this, but the Italians have held on.
70' - Zebre's scrum doing well. They've won a penalty and will set up an attacking lineout.
67' - Bulls on the attack again. They will tap and go. Bulls held up over the line.
57' - TRY for Zebre! Skipper Alessandro Fusco scores after Zebre's dominant scrum. Converted.
Zebre 13-35 Bulls
56' - Some life in Zebre yet. They've forced a 5m attacking scrum in the Bulls 22.
55' - Bulls in full control. Running from everywhere, but Zebre win a penalty. A bit harsh on Willie le Roux, he wasn't allowed to place the ball after he was tackled.
50' - TRY to the Bulls! Brillant hands again, with Ludwig and Vermaak prominent and then the ball goes wide and the Bulls have too many many out their. Voster scores. Converted.
Zebre 6-35 Bulls
47' - Bulls going through gears. Zebre hanging on but they've given away another penalty.
46' - Bulls in control now. This might get ugly for the hosts.
43' - TRY to the Bulls! Ruan Vermaak crashes over. That's the bonus point as well. Converted.
Zebre 6-28 Bulls
42' - Bulls on the attack early on. They have a penalty. De Wet taps and goes.
40' - We are back underway in Italy for the second half.
Half-time
38' - TRY to the Bulls. Paul de Wet reads the play well, makes an intercept and sprints away to score. Converted.
Zebre 6-21 Bulls
36' - Zebre with another maul near the Bulls line, but the Bulls make a steal and Bosch clears to touch.
32' - TRY to the Bulls! Reinhardt Ludwig gets over the line as Zebre don't deal with Bosch's kick off at all.
Zebre 6-14 Bulls
30' - Penalty slotted by Zebre! Allan slots it over from around 42m out.
Zebre 6-7 Bulls.
29' - Zebre's pack is feisty. They've won another penalty after an effective maul of their own. Allan will have a shot at goal.
27' - Penalty try to the Bulls! Their mauls is stopped illegally and Andrew Brace awards the penalty try. Yellow card for Zebre, too.
Zebre 3-7 Bulls
26' - But the Bulls are back on the attack. Their pack is starting to get the ascendency.
24' - Johan Ackermann must be very frustrated with this Bulls performance so far. Too many unforced errors.
24' - Bulls make metres in midfield through Voster but then knock on again as Jacobs throws the ball off the deck to an unspecting Coetzee who was trying to get to the ruck to clean.
23' - Bulls making metres now. Into the Zebre 22m. And then Zebre strip the ball and clear.
21' - Lineout steal by the Bulls. Let's see if they can do something with the ball this time.
20' - Another mistake from the Bulls and Zebre have a penalty to clear their lines.
19' - Another penalty to the Bulls, who are slowly building into the game. Bosch will go to the line again.
18' - Finally a period where the Bulls have some possession. Le Roux goes to the air eventually but it's dealt with as Zebre take a mark. Bulls should have rather kept the ball.
16' - Zebre deal with the Bulls' maul, so the visitors go wide. Harold Voster knocks on.
16' - Penalty to the Bulls. Kickable, but they opt to setup an attacking lineout.
13' - Penalty slotted by Zebre! Tommaso Allan makes no mistake from the tee.
Zebre 3-0 Bulls
12' - Bulls pinged again. Zebre will go for poles.
12' - Another excellent maul from Zebre. The Bulls stop it eventually as Zebre take the ball out to the backs.
10' - The Bulls' first foray in the Zebre half ends in a penalty for the home side. They set up an attacking lineout just outside the Bulls 22.
8' - Zebre go to the air. The Bulls under pressure, but the home side knock on.
6' - The home side set up an attacking lineout. A great maul but the Bulls defend well and hold Zebre up over the line. Goal line dropout for the Bulls.
6' - Stravino Jacobs snaffles the ball for the Bulls but then the visitors are pinged for holding on. Zebre all over them at the moment.
4' - Zebre have started strong here. They back on the attack and look full of running.
2' - First scrum of the game and it's an attacking one for Zebre. Bulls dominant. Zebre run it but a loose pass goes into touch.
1' - Zebre get us underway as they kick off.
- The teams are out on the field.
- Kick off is at 18:30.
Teams
Zebre
15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco (captain), 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Matteo Canali, 3 Juan Ignacio Castellano, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Federico Pisani.
Replacments: 16 Francisco Minervino, 17 Sergio Pelliccioli, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Franco Carrera, 20 Davide Ruggeri, 21 Thomas Dominguez, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Giovanni Montemauri.
Bulls
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Juann Else, 1 Alu Tshakweni.
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Cheswill Jooste, 23 Hakeem Kunene.