Best Bulls v Leinster: Coetzee’s Mongrel, Akker’s Impetus In Vain

It was all Leinster from the kick-off and they held a commanding 19-0 lead at halftime thanks to tries by captain Jack Conan, Jordie Barrett and Josh van der Flier.

After looking shell-shocked in the opening 20 minutes, the Bulls finally got some 22 entries in the second quarter, yet never looked like scoring with one-off runners making it easy for the physically superior hosts to pick them off. 

Sam Prendergast, who’d converted two of the hosts’ first-half tries, made it 22-0 with his first penalty goal shortly after the interval before the Bulls finally got on the board through Akker van der Merwe in the 51st minute, with Johan Goosen converting the replacement hooker’s try.

It proved to be the men from Pretoria’s only points of the match with Prendergast stretching the scoreline out to 25-7 with a second three-pointer with 13 minutes remaining before Fintan Gunne stretched over late as the Irish giants buried their recent finals hoodoo and clinched their first URC title in style. 

Our top three Bulls standouts were:

Marcell Coetzee

A key figure in the Bulls’ leadership group, Coetzee shifted from flank to No. 8 for the final following Cameron Hanekom’s injury in the 25-13 semi-final win over the Sharks and was the visitors’ most relentless force.

The 34-year-old tried everything to get his team going, running straight into the fire time and time again. Yes, he had mixed success, but his never-say-die attitude – when most of his teammates went through the motions – deserves to be commended.

The 31-Test Springbok won the lineout that led to the Herd’s only try, made a joint-Bulls-best 13 carries and the joint-second-most tackles with nine, with his cover tackle on Barrett the best of the bunch from a defensive point of view. His numbers are especially impressive given he was replaced in the 65th minute.

Marco van Staden

Hanekom’s injury opened the door for Van Staden to come into the starting line-up and like Coetzee, he caught the eye with his hard grafting. He matched his fellow back-rower with 13 carries and made a team-high 10 tackles.

The World Cup-winning Springbok had his work cut out for him at the breakdown due to Leinster’s speed and efficiency in the rucks but he did manage to latch onto the ball and win a penalty in the 38th minute.

Akker van der Merwe

“The Angry Warthog” replaced a misfiring Johan Grobbelaar in the 45th minute and added impetus with a typically industrious and tenacious cameo.

His energy and physicality were just what the Bulls needed to get into gear and it looked like he provided the spark for a Bulls comeback with a well-taken try from a driving maul.

Unfortunately for Bulls supporters, no comeback was forthcoming as Leinster were just too powerful and clinical.