The Bulls have sunk the Melbourne Rebels 32-17 at AAMI Park, inflicting the Melburnians their fourth defeat to South African opposition this season.
The defeat was not the homecoming Melbourne born recruit Matt To’omua would have been hoping for; the back only seeing ten minutes of action as a late replacement for flyhalf Quade Cooper.
The Bulls adopted a quick line speed early that made it hard for the Rebels to generate momentum, but it did arouse the suspicion of the referee who penalised the visitors on multiple occasions.Sustained possession eventually hurt the Bulls, with Quade Cooper dancing on the level edge and finding a willing Dane Haylett-Petty in support.
The captain offloaded to Marika Koroibete five metres short of the line and the rampaging winger did the rest himself for the opening try.
The Bulls responded quickly; a dropped catch from the kickoff affording the Bulls the means to make the Rebels hurt and when Andre Pollard found Cornal Hendricks unmarked with a cross field kick, the scores were level.
The Bulls next effort highlighted their threat as both set piece maestros and a team with lethal speed on the edge.
After launching a twenty-metre maul from their own quarter, speedster Rosko Specman broke into the backfield and had the Rebels on their heels.
With the defence retreating, Andre Pollard used the confusion to throw a dummy and jog over from fifteen metres out.
The Bulls were relying on the high ball to exit their half and when RG Snyman tapped back a box kick from team mate Andre Warner, an unsuspecting Hugh Roach found himself with the pill in opposition territory.
Jack Maddocks lingered up in support and managed to offload to Will Genia when he was brought down, inviting the scrumhalf to demonstrate his speed in a mad dash to the tryline.
Pollard would have the final say of the first half however, slotting a forty-metre penalty to see the visitors lead 17-12 at the break.
The Rebels responded with a bang after halftime; half breaks by Billy Meakes and Rob Leota creating space on the edge for Koroibete who needed no directions to the tryline when he found himself with a pick and go opportunity two-metres from the line.
The Bulls had the chance to arrest the lead back for themselves in the fifty-fourth minute with a glutton of possession inside the Rebels quarter.
Eleven phases of straight pick-and-go were desperately defended by the Melburnians and an ensuing knock-on seemed to have swung the momentum the way of the hosts.
The Rebels hadn’t counted on Specman though.The livewire wing turned the Rebels inside out with an audacious chip and regather before linking with Burger Odendaal for a tie breaking lead.
Specman would be rewarded for his efforts in the seventieth minute when a disintegrating Rebels scrum afforded the visitors a penalty advantage five metres from the Rebels line. The Bulls uncharacteristically opted to go wide, catching the Rebels off guard and a lob pass to the pint-sized wing took the Bulls lead to beyond a converted try.
With time quickly disappearing, a late Andre Pollard penalty snuffed out any hopes of a Rebels revival and ensured the hosts would remain winless against South African teams in 2019.
REBELS 17
Tries: Koroibete (2), Genia
Conversions: Cooper
Penalties:
BULLS 32
Tries: Hendricks, Pollard, Odendaal, Specman
Conversions: Pollard (3)
Penalties: Pollard (2)
