The Bulls completed a clean sweep for South Africa in the opening round of the United Rugby Championship when they beat Zebre 47-13 in Parma on Saturday night.
Earlier, in a glorious weekend for South African rugby, the Stormers beat Connacht in Galway, the Lions edged defending champions Leinster in Johannesburg, and the Sharks overwhelmed the Ospreys in Durban.
Judging by the way the game started in Parma, you would never have thought the Bulls had finished second on last season’s log and the Italians 16th and last.
The Parma men dominated the opening 10 minutes, with the Bulls scrambling desperately on defence and fortunate to concede only a three-point penalty in the first quarter of an hour.
The opening exchanges also raised an interesting point regarding World Rugby’s drive to make the game more accessible to colour-blind viewers. Both teams wore blue, making it difficult to distinguish who was playing for whom — a challenge even for the most eagle-eyed viewers.
The team in Italian blue opened the scoring through Tommaso Allan’s penalty in the 13th minute.
The Bulls gradually fought their way into the game, aided by a mistake from Zebre lock Matteo Canali, who pulled down a maul near his line. He was sent to the sin bin for deliberate offside at a ruck, and the Bulls were awarded a penalty try.
On the half-hour mark, Allan kicked his second penalty, only for the Bulls to hit back with a try from lock Reinhardt Ludwig after a series of powerful phases in the Zebre 22.
Then came a potential game-changer two minutes before half-time. A Zebre backline attempt to move the ball wide was beautifully read by Bulls scrumhalf Paul de Wet, who intercepted and raced 50 metres to score under the posts.
The Bulls led 21-6 at half-time, a scoreline reflecting their composure under pressure and ruthless efficiency in making the most of the few opportunities that came their way.
There was nothing fortuitous about the Bulls’ next score three minutes into the second half. They controlled possession efficiently for three minutes before lock Ruan Vermaak was released into space to race to the posts.
The Zebre resistance was broken.
The Bulls moved up a gear, and their best passage of play produced another try, centre Harold Vorster finishing off a score built on relentless surges from the forwards.
Zebre captain and scrumhalf Alessandro Fusco snatched a try back as the game reached the three-quarter mark, but at 35-13, the contest was effectively over.
That was confirmed when replacement lock JF van Heerden powered over from close range.
Replacement scrumhalf Zak Burger scored in the final seconds to complete a statement performance by the Bulls and cap a perfect opening weekend for South Africa’s four URC teams.
Point-scorers
Zebre — Try: Alessandro Fusco. Conversion: Allan. Penalties: Tommaso Allan (2).
Bulls — Tries: Penalty try, Reinhardt Ludwig, Paul de Wet, Ruan Vermaak, Harold Vorster, JF van Heerden, Zak Burger. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (6).
