Vodacom Bulls top the BKT URC table

The repeat of last season’s BKT URC final produced a ten-try thriller on a weekend when two matches fell foul of Storm Amy.

Back in June, the Vodacom Bulls were outplayed as Leinster Rugby defeated them 32-7 at Croke Park to lift the league trophy.

But they gained revenge this weekend, claiming a 39-31 bonus point victory at their Loftus Versfeld home in Pretoria.

It was a fluctuating contest with champions Leinster fighting back from 22-10 down to lead midway through the second half as they delivered a much improved performance from last week’s 35-0 defeat to the DHL Stormers in Cape Town.

But, in the end, the Vodacom Bulls claimed the spoils with two-try centre David Kriel crossing late on to seal a victory which puts them on top of the table.

Giving his thoughts, Kriel said:

“It doesn’t matter what team Leinster sends to South Africa; they are always a quality outfit.

“You can’t pitch up and just expect it’s going to happen, you have got to make it happen.

“Luckily, the scoreboard was in our favour, but there is a lot to work on.”

It’s been a positive start to Johan Ackermann’s reign as head coach, with the Vodacom Bulls having secured the maximum ten points from their first two BKT URC games after beating the Ospreys 53-40 in Round 1.

Kriel said:

“Our coach is big on battle words and one that stands out for me is grit. I think this group has grit.”

Having scored 15 tries in the first two rounds, the Bulls now head out on tour to Europe with trips to Ulster, Connacht and Glasgow coming up on successive weekends.

“We are going to go for all three games,” said Kriel.

“We really want to win silverware this season. This tour is going to be the perfect test for that. We are really excited and hopefully everything works well in our favour.”

Fellow South Africans the DHL Stormers are just a point behind the Vodacom Bulls in the table having followed up their eye-catching win over Leinster by coming from behind to beat the Ospreys 26-10 in Cape Town.

Their captain Ruhan Nel said: “That’s two wins at home before we go on the road, so we are happy.

“Only leaking two tries in two weeks shows how much we care for each other.”