Glasgow Warriors won their second URC Championship when they took control of the match in the second half and won the Vodacom Bulls 21-16 at Loftus Versfeld.
Despite dominating the first half and leading 13-07 at the halftime break, the Bulls' attack was just not good enough to score the much-needed points to win during the final twenty minutes of play and lost their second final in three years.
The Vodacom Bulls opened the scoring with two Johan Goosen penalties to lead 06-00 after fifteen minutes of play in the first half.
Glasgow "dominated" during the first ten odd minutes of the first half, however, the Bulls clawed their way back into the match and set up camp in the red zone of the visitors, launching attack after attack and eventually following a five-meter lineout-maul Marco Van Staden bulldoze his way over for the first try of the match to extend the Bulls lead to 13-00 with fifteen minutes still to play.
During the final fifteen minutes of play, the momentum shifted in favour of Glasgow, helped on by several slipped tackles by the Bulls. Following wave after wave of forward attacks, it was Glasgow's lock Scott Cummings who eventually bulldozed his way over the Bulls' tryline. Glasgow trailed 13-07 at the halftime break.
Despite Glasgow's early dominance, it was a Johan Goosen penalty that opened the scoring in the second half after ten minutes of play to extend the Bulls' lead to 16-07.
However, Glasgow struck back when hooker George Turner scored from the back of a five-meter lineout-maul after just two minutes of play to cut the Bulls' lead to just two points.
Glasgow Warriors continued their fifteen-man onslaught and punched several holes in the defence of the Bulls. With eighteen minutes to play, they spread the ball wide for winger Huw Jones to stroll over for the visitors' third try, putting Glasgow in the lead for the first time of the match with 21-16.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Try: Marco van Staden. Conversion: Johan Goosen. Penalty: Johan Goosen (3).
Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Scott Cummings, George Turner, Huw Jones. Conversions: George Horne (3).
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simpiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Cornel Smit.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Jamie Bhatti. Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Euan Ferrie, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Duncan Weir.