The Blue Bulls were lucky to scrape home 18-16 against a motivated Falcons side in a game on a cold and bitter evening at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
In a scrappy and heated game, the Blue Bulls initially opened up a big lead but then struggled in a second-half performance that must go down as one of the worst in years as the Falcons stormed back in the game.
The game was rocked in the first minute as referee Craig Joubert made his mark by yellow-carding JP Nel for a high tackle, which looked worse than it actually was.
Louis Strydom drilled home the penalty, but it was quickly snuffed out by two similar attempts by Morne Steyn. The Bulls then took advantage of the dominance their pack gave them and started to take control of the game. They drove their way to the Falcons’ line, before sending it wide for Nel to score from the overlap.
They then capitalised on the yellow card given to Falcons lock Dewald Senekal for punching by sending Springbok Sevens winger Stefan Basson over after he jinked back inside to score in the left-hand corner.
Strydom got another penalty back to send the teams at 18-6 to the half-time break.
The second half saw the Blue Bulls get seriously penalised by Joubert, and the Falcons took advantage of it with some spoiling tactics that missed the referee’s eye to rattle the home side into a plethora of mistakes.
Strydom edged them closer with another penalty, and then winger Riaan Viljoen snatched a shocker of a pass from flyhalf Morne Steyn to run 50m for an intercept try that brought them within two points of the Bulls.
Both sides tried desperately to score in the chilly night air thereafter, but it was simply a game that was best forgotten and never could be considered anything close to a spectacle. — Sapa