Connacht Outplayed Vodacom Bulls

 

Connacht hosted the Vodacom Bulls at Galway in Round 2 of the 2021 United Rugby Championship. They managed to claim their first points of the competition by convincingly beating the Vodacom Bulls 34-07 with fast-paced rugby. 

The Bulls opened their scoring tally with an early try after which Connacht upped the tempo of the match with fast running attacks, which kept the Bulls' defence very busy. The Bulls in turn tried to slow the tempo of the match with physical play by the forwards as well as tactical kicking however, they managed to kick away most of their possession in the process. The Bulls struggled to keep up with the fast tempo of the match and were also unable to capitalise on scoring opportunities due to Connacht turning over the ball on most of their attacks.  

01:40 Bulls prop Lizo Gqoboka opened the scoring tally for the Bulls by scoring a try after a good break in the Connacht defence by Zak Burger after which the ball went through the Bulls' hands that lead to the try. Converted by Johan Goosen (7-0).

15:13 Connacht scored their first points when Tiernan O’Halloran scored a try after the ball was played wide quickly from a driving maul. Converted by Jack Carty (7-7).

20:00 The Bulls started the match with an early try and managed to keep Connacht pinned in their half with good tactical kicking and defence. Connacht however made their intentions clear with high tempo running rugby and managed to beat the Bulls' defence to score. The Bulls will need to slow the game down to get better control of the match.

 32:45 Connacht was awarded a penalty in the Bulls' quarter which was successfully kicked by Jack Carty (7-10).

 40:00 The first half was an even affair with both teams in terms of sharing possession and territory. Connacht however played more attacking rugby and kept the Bulls' defence busy which prevented Connacht from scoring more points. The Bulls could not capitalise on the few scoring opportunities which they had with Connacht turning over the ball every time that the Bulls looked like scoring a try.

44:43 Connacht centre Tom Daly scored a try after repeated phase play attacks by Connacht. Converted by Jack Carty (17-7).

48:15 Connacht winger Mack Hansen scored a brilliant try after collecting a box kick mid-field and racing down the sideline to score. Conversion missed by Jack Carty (7-22).  

 60:00 Connacht enjoyed more possession and territory continuing their fast-paced attacks. The Bulls kicked away the little passion that they had and struggled to play outside of their half.

71:29 Connacht scored their bonus point try when they broke the Bulls' backline defence and Tom Farrell went over the try line. Converted by Jack Carty (7-29).

80:02  Tom Daily scored another try for Connacht after a set of attacking phases by Connacht in the Bulls' quarter. Conversion missed by Jack Carty (7-34).

Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Try: Lizo Gqoboka. Conversion: Johan Goosen.
Connacht: Tries: Tiernan O’Halloran, Tom Daly (2), Mack Hansen, Tom Farrell. Conversions: Jack Carty (3). Penalties: Jack Carty

Teams:

Vodacom Bulls: 15. Ruan Combrinck, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Arno Botha, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Jacques van Rooyen, 2. Joe van Zyl, 1. Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Jacques du Plessis, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Stedman Gans.

Connacht: 15. Tiernan O’Halloran, 14. John Porch, 13. Tom Farrell, 12. Tom Daly, 11. Mack Hansen, 10. Jack Carty, 9. Kieran Marmion, 8. Abraham Papali’i, 7. Jarrad Butler (c), 6. Cian Prendergast, 5. Ultan Dillane, 4. Oisin Dowling, 3. Finlay Bealham, 2. Dave Heffernan, 1. Jordan Duggan. Replacements: 16. Shane Delahunt, 17. Matthew Burke, 18. Jack Aungier, 19. Leva Fifita, 20. Conor Oliver, 21. Caolin Blade, 22. Paul Boyle, 23. Sammy Arnold.

Article by Francois du Toit