There may have been no sounding of the controversial Bok van Blerk song De la Rey, but Springbok and Bulls winger Bryan Habana was the one man who saved his team from the certain jaws of defeat.
On the hooter signalling the end of what was to be the Bulls’ third defeat of the season and the second consecutive one at Loftus in as many weeks, Habana salvaged the match scoring in the left-hand corner to give the Bulls a 30-27 victory in their Super 14 encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
In hindsight, this could be the Bulls most important try of this Super 14 campaign as it could give them the much-needed boost to live up to their pre-season expectation.
The Chiefs would have been deserved winners had it not been for Habana, as the Bulls had once again contrived to throw away a match they should have won without even breaking a sweat.
The Bulls had done well in the latter stages of the first half to come back from a 10-0 deficit, in the 10th minute, to go into half-time with a 19-10 lead.
The hosts were, however, forced to break into a sweat of panic as the Chiefs controlled proceedings territorially and found plenty of use for the oval leather when they had it in hand.
The Chiefs, though, could have put away the Bulls midway through the second half, but two crucial handling errors kept the Bulls afloat with the Chiefs two points adrift.
How lucky the tactless Bulls were — their fortunes only changed when Jaco van der Westhuyzen was introduced in the 57th minute for Akona Ndungane bringing in with him some sort of hope.
Long before Van der Westhuyzen’s presence, a Stephen Donald penalty followed by Lelia Masaga’s first try of the match had placed the Chiefs on a comfortable 10-0 lead.
The Bulls struck back with some purpose in though two penalties by Morne Steyn and a crash-over try by Bakkies Botha.
In the 33rd minute, Bulls prop Guthro Steenkamp found himself at the bottom of a Bulls maul with ball in hand over the Chiefs try line to extend the hosts’ lead to 16-10 before Steyn added another penalty.
The Bulls’ lack of commitment to the tackle situation led to their demise in the second half as Dwayne Sweeney was the recipient of a pass from Roy Kinikinilau, who had beaten a horde of would-be Bulls tacklers.
Masaga collected his second try of the match in the 59th minute, which also signalled the change in lead with the Chiefs, once again, ahead at 24-19.
Substitute flyhalf Derick Hougaard slotted over to penalties to hand the Bulls the lead before Donald’s penalty in the 75th minute seemed to seal the Bulls fate.
After the game, Habana was being lauded once again as Loftus’s favourite son and the man to lead them out of this early-season rut. — Sapa