Ken Borland

Sluggish and on the back foot from the outset, the Bulls were torn to shreds by the Glasgow Warriors on the 4G pitch at Scotstoun, being hammered 35-21 in their United Rugby Championship match on Saturday night.

On a rainy night in Glasgow, the Warriors were on fire from the start, backing their expansive intentions and showing they had the skills to pull it off. But a Bulls side that relies so much on their physicality was strangely passive and they were outworked and outmuscled at the rucks and on the gainline. The fact that they were passive on defence was probably the biggest indictment of their effort.

Glasgow scored two tries in the first 11 minutes to give themselves a healthy lead, especially with the rain, but the Bulls did fight back with a Kurt-Lee Arendse try after Cornal Hendrikse capitalised on a loose ball thanks to pressure by Elrigh Louw.

But the second quarter saw both lock Scott Cummings and scrumhalf George Horne take advantage of lacklustre defending and Glasgow were 28-7 up at halftime.

When the Warriors scored again eight minutes into the second half, wing Sebastian Cancelliere combining slickly with fullback Josh McKay, the Bulls were 35-7 down and on a hiding to nothing.

The second half did not have the spark of the first, but the Bulls were totally lacking the attacking accuracy to claw their way back into the match. The attacking breakdown was the biggest issue for them and penalties there, as well as a few handling errors, accounted for the ball being turned over nine times in promising positions inside the Glasgow 22.

The fire that was so lacking in the Bulls side finally made an appearance when eighthman Louw tussled with Horne on the ground, both of the players being sent to the sin bin for their troubles.

The Bulls did have a chance of earning a couple of points on the log after Bismarck du Plessis burrowed over for their second try on the hour mark. But the Janko Swanepoel try in the final minute was the only addition to their score.

The territory that set up both second-half tries came from scrum penalties, probably the only area of the game where the Bulls were better than the opposition.

Scorers

Glasgow Warriors – Tries: Matt Fagerson, Sebastian Cancelliere, Scott Cummings, George Horne, Josh McKay. Conversions: Horne (5).

Bulls – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Bismarck du Plessis, Janko Swanepoel. Conversions: Chris Smith (2), Morne Steyn.

Facing a tough away match at Scotstoun, Bulls coach Jake White does not know whether the wind will howl or not, but one thing that is within his control is team selection and he revealed on Friday that he will not risk flyhalf Johan Goosen against Glasgow Warriors on their artificial pitch.

Goosen, who will probably be on the Springboks’ end-of-year tour, has started just one game at flyhalf since rupturing his knee three games into last season on the artificial pitch in Cardiff. But even though the 30-year-old needs game time and White has also been robbed of backline stars Canan Moodie and Sbu Nkosi due to injury, Goosen will not feature for the Bulls in their United Rugby Championship match against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night.

“I’m not going to risk Johan on a 4G pitch. They don’t play any Test rugby on those pitches for a reason, it’s because more players get injured on that surface,” White stated on Friday.

“He has just come back from 11 months out after an horrific injury on that sort of pitch. I took the decision myself, I did not ask him. If you look at the history of those 4G pitches, there have been a lot of injuries and I don’t want to take the risk.

“I have confidence in Chris Smith and Morne Steyn, they have done exceptionally well the times we have called on them,” White said.

While there is expected to be a low chance of rain in Glasgow on Saturday night, and just a gentle breeze, White did say he was concerned about the wind strengthening.

“Scotstoun can be very windy, which can be a massive factor in the way we want to play, sometimes it makes it very difficult to play too much rugby,” White said.

“We will have to see how the weather is, it is very influential here, and we might have to kick more. That’s also a skill and creating pressure points is a part of attack too.

“Rain will not be so much of a problem, but a massive amount of wind will be, whether you’re playing against it or with it. It’s a very open stadium and our stadiums at home are closed in.

“If you’re against the wind at the back end of the match and chasing the game, then it becomes very difficult. We also have to learn to use the wind when it is in our favour,” White said.

Added to the change in conditions from back in Pretoria, White pointed out that Glasgow Warriors are always a formidable challenge at home.

“They only lost once at home last year and their one game at home this season they have won convincingly. Coach Franco Smith has lots of experience and he has done well with the Free State Cheetahs and Italy.

“Plus Glasgow have a couple of injured players coming back, which is going to make their forward pack more staunch. Last week was obviously a rebound result for them, and I have no doubt they will want another,” White said.

Bulls: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel, Stedman Gans, Chris Smith, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Marco Van Staden, Marcell Coetzee (capt), Ruan Nortjé, Walt Steenkamp, Francois Klopper, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Reinhardt Ludwig, Embrose Papier, Morné Steyn, Wandisile Simelane.

The second-half comeback by the Sharks will please coach Sean Everitt, but he will be dismayed by the unfocused start they made to the match as they went down 35-24 to Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship match at Scotstoun on Saturday.

From the moment the Sharks allowed Glasgow wing Rufus McLean to run almost from 22 to 22 from the kickoff, leading to a second-minute try for the home side, it was clear the visitors were not switched on from the start. And it proved crucial as the Warriors scored three times in the first quarter to rattle up a 21-0 lead. The Sharks did manage to score a tap-and-go try by lock Le Roux Roets, but they were still 28-10 down at halftime, a lead that was stretched to 35-10 three minutes into the second half. But then the Sharks belatedly cut out the ill-discipline and basic errors, and dominated the second half to show what could have been.

“We thought it was a game that we could win if we gave a good, disciplined performance. But we conceded five penalties in quick succession in the first half and that put us under the pump,” Everitt said.

“It’s very difficult on a 4G [artificial] pitch once the opposition are behind you or get ascendancy. It’s very difficult to stop their momentum.

“But the fact that we only conceded 10 penalties overall is exactly why the second half was so much better. Our lineout and scrum improved, those were pleasing aspects that made it a smoother second half.

“I thought we were unlucky not to get a fourth try and two points on the log, but there were a lot of improvements in only our second game in the Northern Hemisphere,” Everitt said.

Moving Ruan Pienaar to flyhalf certainly seemed to help, because he and Boeta Chamberlain did not really stamp their mark on the game as a halfback combination. The Sharks’ backline produced some slick attacking play in the second half, and the pack showed their power as props Thomas du Toit and Ntuthuko Mchunu both scored tries.

Everitt is confident that, in the long run, and the URC is a very long competition, these sort of experiences will be good for a young Sharks side.

“There’s a big hole left by the 12 regular starters who are not here and we have to field a lot of youngsters, but it’s really good experience for them against international players.

“We will get better and we are learning hard lessons. It’s important that we stay the course and keep improving,” Everitt said.

Scorers

Glasgow Warriors – Tries: Ross Thompson, Ryan Wilson, Jamie Bhatti, Cole Forbes (2). Conversions: Thompson (5).

Sharks – Tries: Le Roux Roets, Thomas du Toit, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty: Bosch.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had much to consider when it came to selecting his team for their United Rugby Championship clash against the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on Saturday; he needed to look at his side through the lenses of the fast-paced artificial pitch they are playing on, the opposition’s strong lineout, maul and breakdown work, and their powerful presence in the collisions.

In the end Everitt decided to bolster his lineout resources and give his pack more beef for those gainline collisions, moving a lock, Gerbrandt Grobler, to flank and recalling Ruben van Heerden to the starting line-up. Hyron Andrews remains as the lock reserve.

“When we recruited Gerbrandt it was with the dual positions of lock and flank in mind and, from a lineout point of view, he will bring a different dynamic at No.7, and we know Glasgow contest the lineouts very well with Richie Gray there,” Everitt said.

“Hyron and Ruben were our first-choice locks last year in Super Rugby and in the early stages of the Currie Cup, but unfortunately they both got injured. But they were both really good off the bench last week.

“The thing with the artificial pitch is that it makes the people quicker but it does not necessarily mean the game will be quicker. There will be more high-speed running than on grass, but we have trained and adapted well and I don’t see the pace of the game as a threat at all.

“Glasgow were originally coached by Dave Rennie so they play like a Super Rugby side, they bring a high tempo and a high-line defence, and they like to carry a lot. It’s a different threat and we just have to keep them out,” Everitt said.

While Munster were content to “suffocate and strangle” the Sharks last weekend, the Warriors are going to look to quickly counter-attack off every error and the Sharks are going to have to, as ever, improve their discipline and ball-retention.

“Conceding 17 penalties is not acceptable, although we were on the wrong side of a few 50/50s. But we need to adapt in the mauls and breakdowns and it’s a big learning curve.

“The European teams are really disciplined in how they execute their plans. I thought we played really well at times against Munster, but we paid for our errors.

“We are up against international players and if we don’t look after the ball then we will be punished dearly. The penalty count is also important, but that’s not hard to fix.

“We don’t want to be playing between the 10-metre lines, we need to manage the game better and limit our turnovers,” Everitt said.