A momentous afternoon for Bristol’s Bears and the most miserable for a Bulls team for which there is no appropriate adjective when it comes to describing their lack of defensive effort.
Loftus, for home supporters, has turned from an altitude-powered fortress to a defensive house of horrors.
This is the Investec Champions Cup; the toughest club rugby competition in the world, where pride comes in the form of protecting one’s tryline and hope does not come from scoring 49 points at home and conceding 61 points.
The Crusaders, in the 2017 Super Rugby competition, scored 62 points and 10 tries against the Bulls at Loftus. Saturday’s 61 points is the second most conceded at home by the Bulls.
The Bears won in Pretoria 61-49, but the result was not safe until the final hooter. That says as much about the Bears feeble defence as it does the Bulls. Both teams were a defensive disaster.
The greatest teams in the history of the Champions Cup are defined by their defensive resolve, their ability to stop tries even more than a desire to score them.
None of that was on display at Loftus in a match where the English visitors led 21-0 after eight minutes and scored a fourth try and bonus point within 15 minutes. By the 25th minute the teams had combined for 63 points.
At halftime, 75 points had been scored, 47 to Bristol and 28 to the Bulls.
It was a try-scoring carnival, but it betrayed the fabric of this great competition, and the current Bulls are doing everything to curse the legacy of a jersey worn, not too long ago, by tournament champions Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Fourie du Preez, Morne Steyn and Bryan Habana.
Bristol, a week ago, played a game in near snow. On Saturday, at altitude and in 30 degrees heat, they toyed with and destroyed a Bulls team, whose individuals, defensively, looked like they had met in the warm-up drills.
There can only be rugby shame for every one of those Bulls players who leaked 61 points at home. Forget the 49 scored and the craziness of a match in which the Bulls could still have won it with five minutes to go.
This was a statement of sorrow from the Bulls players. They certainly did not play for each other, and they did not play for their coach or his support staff.
Tight teams scramble on defence and make one-on-one tackles.
Most tellingly the Bulls did not play for the 11 000 who arrived at Loftus. High school rugby games in the city attract a bigger crowd.
The Bulls currently have no game identity and are imposters when it comes to their DNA. They picked seven Springboks in their pack of eight and a Springboks halfback pairing, and then played Sevens rugby.
The confusion, indecision and lack of clarity was embarrassing.
Even when they trailed by two scores with 15 minutes to play, they were tapping and going from 85 metres, against a team who thrives on no structure, width and all-out attack.
Senior Springboks Willie le Roux and Handre Pollard have shown more care in decision-making and on-field discipline when playing school rugby in the mid-2000s.
The Bulls picked the most potent scrum and lineout and never looked to play set-piece rugby.
Bristol, with Pat Lam at the helm, are renowned for their absolute belief in a ball-in-hand game, fast paced and full-throttle approach.
This was a line-break attack performance Bristol will store in the archives, but the naivety and disinterest of the hosts biggest name players to counter Bristol should also be archived come contract discussions.
For the record, 110 points were scored, with the two teams combining for 16 tries and 1351 metres on attack.
More significantly is that the teams combined to miss 25 percent of their tackles (77 from 312), conceded 35-line breaks and 27 turnovers.
Meanwhile, in Manchester, in the battle of the Sharks, the hosts were always going to be the winner.
(SA) Sharks coach JP Pietersen made 14 changes to the starting XV that lost in Durban to the Lions in the URC a week ago.
For all the bravado and talk from (SA) Sharks owner Marco Masotti in labelling the Sale Sharks tuna, the only team leaving Manchester shredded and packaged in a can was going to be the visitors.
The (SA) Sharks have struggled to win in 30 degrees humidity in Durban this season, so there was no way they were going to make any sort of statement in the coldest of winters up north.
The Sale Sharks won 26-10, with a four-try bonus point. The South Africans have to beat Clermont in Durban next weekend to make the last 16 play-offs.
In the EPCR Challenge Cup, Morne Brandon scored in the 78th minute and Chris Smith converted for a 42-33 Lions win against Lyon at Ellis Park. The Lions led 28-7 midway through the first half.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.