Bulls bounce back to batter Benetton

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The Vodacom Bulls scored 41 points after the break to bank a bonus-point victory against Benetton in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Treviso on Friday night.

A lacklustre first half sent the Bulls into the sheds trailing Benetton 9-3 at the break, but the prospect of a winless tour saw the visitors tear onto the field for the second-half where they scored five tries to thrash the Italians 44-22.

Benetton No 10 Tomas Albornoz’s boot proved to be the difference in a tight but dour first half as he slotted three penalties to the one of Bulls counterpart Chris Smith, securing a 9-3 half-time lead.

The Bulls were a different side after the break, a penalty from Smith signalling the start of an impressive offensive that resulted in converted tries from lock Ruan Nortje and No 8 Elrigh Louw propelling the visitors into a 20-12 lead with 30 minutes to go.

Benetton were determined to stay in the fight, punching back with a converted try from flanker Manuel Zuliani and another penalty from Albornoz put the hosts in front 22-20 at the end of the third quarter,

But Smith broke Benetton’s resolve when he opened the final quarter with a penalty to reclaim a one-point advantage for the tourists. What followed was three quickfire tries from replacement hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels, skipper Marcell Coetzee and replacement winger Stravino Jacobs.

All of these tries were converted without reply by the legendary Morne Steyn who took over from Smith and kicked the visitors into good positions where they pummelled Benetton as the Bulls snapped a two-game slump to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Next up, the Bulls return to Loftus Versfeld to host the Sharks in Round 7, though they’ll be sweating on the injury report for No 8 Elrigh Louw who was carried off the field by his teammates with a taped right ankle.

Photo: Twitter/@URCOfficial

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Rienk De Beer