Bismarck sees red as Bulls survive Munster fightback

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The Vodacom Bulls did just enough to hang on for the win and avoid an embarrassing Vodacom United Rugby Championship defeat against Munster at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Bulls held a commanding 26-3 lead at the interval, courtesy of Chris Smith’s accuracy on goal and tries from Madosh Tambwe and Walt Steenkamp. But the home side were forced to close out the match a man down after Bismarck du Plessis saw a straight red, following a TMO review for a tip tackle with 10 minutes to go.

A missed long-range penalty and drop goal attempt from Morne Steyn would’ve sucked the wind out of the visitors’ sails at the crucial juncture, but Jake White’s men dug in for a 29-24 win at the death.

Tambwe had a try disallowed by Quinton Immelman in the 57th minute, with the upstairs official also called into action in ruling out Munster captain Jack O’Donoghue’s effort in the first stanza.

But Immelman found no fault with Damian de Allende’s grounding for his 65th-minute touchdown, the substitute centre having pounced on a loose ball from a lineout. And there was no denying O’Donoghue late on after he crashed over from close quarters to set up a nail-biting finish.

Smith was on target as early as the third minute with a penalty, and he continued to punish any and all the visitors’ indiscretions from the kicking tee. Tambwe then capped off a period of pressure from the men in blue, the powerful No 11 showing good hands to snap up captain Marcell Coetzee’s offload, with Smith adding the extras.

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The hosts benefited from a one-man advantage in the 33rd minute, Steenkamp on hand to finish off a Kurt-Lee Arendse-inspired attack, after Alex Kendellen was earlier shown a yellow card for a no-arms tackle.

Kendellen later redeemed himself for his earlier dismissal, splashing over the whitewash in the 54th minute from a tap-and-go as Munster looked to close the margin on the scoreboard.

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Devin Hermanus