The Bulls, torrid for so long this season, were terrific at Ellis Park in dismantling the Lions 52-17 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash yesterday.
The victors led 26-3 at half-time, with the Lions getting their second try after the final whistle.
Former Lions coach Johann Ackerman returned to his old hood and immediately found comfort in the surroundings and the result.
Ackerman may have been sitting in the unfamiliar visiting change room and coach’s suite, but the performance of the Bulls was familiar with every success Ackerman enjoyed in this tenure with the Lions.
Ackerman, in the past month, has added coaching the forwards to his portfolio of head coach and director of rugby. The results have been obvious in just how the Bulls have improved as a forward unit.
The win in Johannesburg was the third in succession on the road after the Bulls snapped a seven-match losing streak against Pau in France in the Investec Champions Cup.
The win in France was enough to sneak into the last 16 play-offs and a week later the Bulls won by two points against Edinburgh. That ended a four-match losing sequence in the URC.
Those two wins were fashioned on determination, scrambling defence, a refusal to lose again, Handre Pollard’s ability to kick the conversions that matter and a forward unit that was starting to match the hype of athletes who form the collective.
What the Bulls had not delivered was an emphatic statement to formally announce their arrival of the 2025/26 season, but that all changed at Ellis Park, the spiritual home of South African rugby.
The Bulls were unrecognisable from the side that conceded 61 points against Bristol in Pretoria a month ago. Here they defended their line as if it was their bank account and played with calm and intelligence and plenty of intensity.
The Bulls were unrecognisable from the side that conceded 61 points against Bristol in Pretoria a month ago. Here they defended their line as if it was their bank account and played with calm and intelligence and plenty of intensity.
Individuals prospered, with veteran inside centre Harold Vorster the pick of the backs and the starting loose-trio of Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw and Jeandre Rudolph strong in the carry, disciplined when on the ball and powerful in breaking the tackle.
But it was the collective that must be applauded before any individual.
The body language was remarkably transformed from a month ago, especially on defence.
At Ellis Park there was encouragement after every big Bulls tackle made and celebration when a player won a turnover penalty. You also know that law and order has been restored to the Bulls when backs are sprinting to the breakdown to congratulate the turnover kings of their pack.
The Bulls, in the first 50 minutes, made just 37 tackles to the home team’s 107, and with a gluttony of possession they feasted on every opportunity to score eight tries and take home the maximum five league points.
The Bulls, with five wins from 10 matches, are seventh in the league.
In Durban, Stormers scrumhalf Cobus Reinach scored 23 seconds into the match, but that was the match highlight for the Cape-based club as the Sharks were always in control in scoring five tries to two in winning 36-24.
Sharks captain Andre Esterhuizen, outstanding in last weekend’s 30-19 win against the Stormers in Cape Town, produced another imposing and compelling performance as the hosts dominated the final 30 minutes to condemn the Stormers to their second successive defeat in the league, having gone eight matches unbeaten.
The Sharks physically won the small battles, the collisions and the tactical kicking game. They were outstanding in a one-sided aerial battle and, having won just one in nine matches against the Stormers, they have now won two in succession.
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