Bumbling Bulls no match for slick Leinster in URC final

The Bulls’ quest for an elusive United Rugby Championship virtually ended before it began as two early tries set up Leinster’s 32-7 triumph in Saturday’s final at Croke Park in Dublin.

Jake White’s team conceded 14 points in as many minutes in a terrible start to the title decider, and were unable to recover and mount a serious challenge to the Irish giants to go down in their third URC final.

While they weren’t given any favours from Italian referee Andrea Piardi either, what will have disappointed Bulls fans the most is the fact that their team hardly fired a shot in a lethargic opening 40 minutes.

While the rainy conditions didn’t aid their cause, they mainly resorted to one-off runners when they were able to get their hands on the ball, and Leinster kept them at bay all too comfortably.

The Bulls lacked creativity on attack, with their kicking game also letting them down as flyhalf Johan Goosen in particular booted the ball too deep, which resulted in very little pressure being applied on the home side.

The South Africans’ chase-line didn’t have the necessary urgency either, and that allowed Leinster to gain easy metres by running the ball back with purpose.

Coach Leo Cullen would have been delighted with his team’s start, with Leinster captain and No 8 Jack Conan going over for the opening try in the sixth minute after hooker Dan Sheehan made the initial charge.

Luck certainly went the way of the home side for their second try as the Bulls earned a free kick from a scrum, but opted for an up-and-under instead of keeping possession.

From the resultant breakdown, Leinster scrumhalf Luke McGrath – a late replacement for the injured Jamison Gibson-Park – put in a clever chip that was hacked ahead by All Black centre Jordie Barrett, who won the chase to score the second try in the 14th minute.

It was a long road back from 14-0 down for the Bulls, and they weren’t helped by referee Piardi ignoring a few Leinster infringements – such as an early tackle on Harold Vorster, who was also pushed off the ball in another scuffle, as well as awarding a 50-22 to the Dublin outfit despite blowing his whistle for a penalty before the ball had gone into touch.

Bulls tighthead Wilco Louw also didn’t get early enough reward in his scrum battle against Andrew Porter, but the visitors didn’t help themselves either with a lack of physicality, intensity and a few wasted lineout drives.

Leinster were ruthless, though, and grabbed their third touchdown when flank Josh van der Flier somehow forced his way through the middle of a maul in the 23rd minute.

The Bulls had a chance to reduce the deficit before halftime with a series of lineout drives, but were unable to get over the line to go to the break at 19-0 down.

Coach White introduced Akker van der Merwe at hooker early in the second half, and he got the Bulls onto the scoreboard with a well-taken try from a lineout in the 51st minute.

But the Pretoria team couldn’t kick on from there despite again making their way into the Leinster 22 on a few occasions.

Flyhalf Sam Prendergast added two penalties to stretch the lead to 25-7, and then replacement scrumhalf Fintan Gunne finished things off in style with a classy finish.

Points-Scorers

Leinster 32 – Tries: Jack Conan, Jordie Barrett, Josh van der Flier, Fintan Gunne. Conversions: Sam Prendergast (2), Ross Byrne (1). Penalties: Prendergast (2).

Bulls 7 – Try: Akker van der Merwe. Conversion: Johan Goosen (1).