The Bulls had to work hard on Saturday afternoon to fend off a furious attack from the Italian team, Benetton.

Eventually, Marcell Coetzee and his men scored six tries to win their United Rugby Championship (URC) match against this stubborn team from Treviso with 46-29.

While there were predictions of revenge by the Bulls after they were so unexpectedly beaten last year in the final of the Rainbow Cup Tournament against the very same Benetton, Jake White’s men started the game in a shockingly poor manner.

In the first 25 minutes there was only one team on the field … and it was not the men in Blue.

The Bulls struggled at the break points, while Benetton made the game faster with persistent attacks. It worked for them, and thus they were able to reach the try line first when inside centre Tommaso Menoncello exploited weak defence to score.

South African born Rhyno Smith’s kicking boot increased the Italians’ score with several penalty goals and ten minutes before half-time the visitors were 16-5 ahead.

The match also produced one of the unpleasant aspects of rugby, when the visitors’ hooker, Corniel Els, was seriously injured in a contact situation after he tried to tackle Elrich Louw head-on. Els was knocked out cold and had to be carried off on a stretcher.

However, the Bulls straightened themselves out and shortly before half-time Kurt-Lee Arendse was through for a great try, which was very important in terms of their approach in the second half.

After half-time, the Bulls’ forwards protected their possession much better and this changed their entire attack on the game.

Although the Italians fought back stubbornly throughout, the Bulls systematically took control of the game with positive attacking play and eventually scored six brilliant tries.

Right after the game, the Pretorians were seventh on the log in the URC, but things could still change later in the weekend.

The most important fact is that the Bulls’ fate is still in their own hands and if they can manage to win their last two league fixtures against the Glasgow Warriors (home) and the Welsh team Ospreys (away), they will qualify for the quarterfinals. With a little luck, they could even finish among the top four and thus get a home quarterfinal.

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