The Bulls’ defeat (22-23) against the Welsh team Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship (URC) match on Friday night at the latter’s home ground in Llanelli probably left a bitter taste in the mouths of the players, management and certainly many fans.

It wasn’t the best possible effort from the Bulls, who ran out without most of their Springboks and other stars, but still they could have won this game if it weren’t for external factors, including the suspect performances of all the match officials.

There will of course be those who say that the Bulls did not play well and were responsible for their own downfall. Yes, they were well below their own standard at times and they did miss various opportunities to score tries, especially in the first half. One of the team’s old ailments – lack of focus – which has the effect that they advance into the red area and then concede possession, is still a problem and it was the case again in Llanelli on Friday night.

It's déjà vu for the Vodacom Bulls in Wales 😲🟥

📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNho4A4 pic.twitter.com/cnnHqwikEU

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 18, 2024

If one can criticize the Bulls’ management in this respect, it is the fact that there was no proper or experienced leadership on the field after Akker van der Merwe was replaced. The leader who stands in after the captain is replaced must be able to take the full responsibility of leadership. His duties as captain does not stop at communication with the referee, but he is also responsible for motivating and keeping his team together.

Bulls coach, Jake White, admitted that the young Reinhardt Ludwich took over the captaincy after Akker van der Merwe left the field and he also admitted that Ludwich probably still has lessons to learn about how to handle leadership under pressure.

The Bulls’ poor defence during Scarlets’ winning try by Tom Rogers was a sign of a team that was beginning to unravel and had already lost focus.

The other side of the coin, of course, is that fans don’t always take into account how difficult the situation can become for players when their momentum and game plan are constantly disrupted by questionable refereeing decisions or the lack of decisions that in other situations would be mere logic.

Apart from the ridiculous red card to Johan Grobbelaar, there were many other similar (and even worse) offenses by Scarlets players that were simply ignored by the Italian referee, Federico Vedovelli and TMO Stefano Penne, who also happens to be Italian. The worst of these is probably the blatant shoulder charge of Sam Lousi, lock of Starlets, on Cobus Wiese.

The two Welsh assistant referees, Craig Evans and Nathan James, cannot of course wash their hands in innocence either. There will undoubtedly be pressure now more than ever on the former South African, Tappe Henning (Head of Match Officials in the URC) to intervene and correct the chaos and inconsistent actions of match officials in this competition.

One of the biggest influences on Friday night’s game, which cost the Bulls a lot of momentum and probably also neutralized a large part of their game plan, is the way in which Vedovelli simply refused to reward the Bulls with penalties for their dominant scrum work. Many times the Scarlets scrum was in reverse and either their front row collapsed, or they allowed the scrum to swing under pressure, but each time Vedovelli ordered the scrum halves to let the game continue.

In this context it should be mentioned that Scarlets’ winning try was scored in the 71st minute of the game and that there were several opportunities in those last 8 minutes where the Bulls could have been rewarded with a penalty at scrums, but Vedovelli simply ignored them. Three points would of course have been enough for the visitors to win the game.

Jake White, coach of the Bulls, was clearly upset about the events, but did not want to make excuses after the game. According to him, his team should never have been in the position that they were only four points ahead at the start of the last quarter of the game. Of course, this led to great pressure when Grobbelaar received the red card.

“The bottom line is that we were good enough to win the game and it should never have developed into that situation in the first place,” was White’s response to questions from the Welsh media.

However, he could not hide his frustration and he undoubtedly hinted that Grobbelaar will plead not guilty during his trial in the coming week and that he believes the card will, like that of Dawid Kriel last week, also be cancelled.

According to White, the URC has grown in their stance on refereeing errors.

“After this trial (of Kriel) it is no longer the case that you are guilty… and if you challenge them, you are more guilty. There is a genuine understanding that because we are so aware of those things (the inconsistency of decisions) there will be a realistic chance of making your case if you do have a good one,” he remarked.

White emphasized that the few lineouts during which the Bulls gave up possession in that period cost them dearly.

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