The English champions have not been able to triumph on the road in defence of their title this season, but they choose Pretoria, of all places, the most inhospitable of venues, home of the most abrasive of teams, to notch up a first away win. They do so with a bonus point to complete the opening two matches of their Champions Cup campaign with a maximum haul.
Quite how they did it defies analysis, other than to say this was a classic ambush. Hardly any ball, hardly any territory, but an absolute masterclass of obdurate defence in the face of an onslaught, allied with deadly accuracy when offered any glimpse of an opportunity. It helped that the Bulls, struggling to rediscover their form of last season, were all fingers and thumbs – very large fingers and thumbs – butchering chance after chance. They smashed Northampton at scrum-time in the first half, Emmanuel Iyogun shown a yellow card just before the break, but could do nothing with it.
Indeed, it was Northampton who snatched a try just after he had gone, turning over a loose Bulls lineout, before Alex Mitchell tapped and went when the Bulls infringed, darting and feeding Juarno Augustus a couple of phases later to send the No 8 over for Saints’ second and an outrageous 12-7 half-time lead.
Alex Dombrandt and Cadan Murley plundered hat-tricks as Harlequins campaign was given liftoff with a 53-16 victory over the Stormers. A week after falling to Racing 92 in Paris, Quins produced an eight-try demolition of South African visitors who were missing seven Springboks to injury including Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse and Frans Malherbe.
The irrepressible Dombrandt and Murley took centre stage in front of England coach Steve Borthwick, who was watching from the stands, as the hosts ended a two-match losing run. Marcus Smith lasted 66 minutes in a pleasing end to his week after signing a new contract that keeps him at the club until 2028 and he was joined at half-back by Danny Care, who was given a rare start this season.
La Rochelle inflicted a second successive defeat on Bristol with a 35-7 win at Stade Marcel-Deflandre. The highlight was a stunning first-half finish by the former England wing Jack Nowell for La Rochelle’s opening try, and the two-time champions went on to collect a bonus point.
Tolu Latu, Levani Botia, UJ Seuteni and Thomas Berjon followed Nowell over the Bristol line, while the fly-half Ihaia West kicked five conversions. Jack Bates claimed Bristol’s solitary touchdown just before half-time, converted by Sam Worsley, as their hopes of reaching the last-16 were dealt a major setback.
Ulster’s hopes of progressing from Pool One suffered another setback after they lost 40-19 against Bordeaux-Bègles in Belfast. A week after conceding 60 points to the holders, Toulouse, Ulster led 19-14 at half-time after tries from Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney and Werner Kok. Bordeaux, though, overwhelmed Ulster after the break as Damian Penaud, Guido Petti, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Ugo Boniface claimed touchdowns that followed a first-half penalty try and score for Tevita Tatafu.
Leinster backed up their impressive victory over Bristol by beating Clermont Auvergne 15-7 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Garry Ringrose and Jordie Barrett scored first-half tries for the Pool Two favourites after Alivereti Raka claimed an early Clermont score, with the Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast adding a conversion and penalty. PA Media
Those of us of a more conservative bent held our head in our hands when Mitchell tapped that eminently kickable penalty, but the maestro had seen something beyond our ken. It was part of a tour de force by the England scrum-half, back from injury. Perhaps the Saints’ fortunes will turn in the Premiership too.
The Bulls were seething after their second-half capitulation to Saracens last Saturday in the freezing wind and rain of Barnet. At home, the temperature was in the 30s and the reading on the altimeter well beyond a kilometre. It seemed the Bulls themselves were as thrown by the contrast as their visitors.
They crossed early, but Devon Williams’s try was chalked off for obstruction, and they otherwise bludgeoned and fumbled their way to a scoreless half an hour, which meant a scoreless 100 minutes, if we include their barren 70 against Saracens. George Furbank left the field with a nasty looking arm injury, but his replacement, George Hendy, cut a beautiful line off Fin Smith to open the scoring with his first touch. Marcell Coetzee replied almost immediately, galloping home for the Bulls’ first, which set up those match-turning moments before half-time.
Northampton rode the opening eight minutes of the second half without Iyogun, before Smith extended their lead with a penalty. On the hour, Mitchell pulled off a classy 50-22. From the lineout Curtis Langdon fed Tommy Freeman on the charge for Saints’ third.
Cameron Hanekom, the feisty No 8, replied with the first of an identikit double in the final quarter, charging from the base of another dominant scrum. He did it again with 10 minutes to go to move Bulls to within a point, but Smith’s penalty, from just short of halfway, wide on the right, gave Saints some breathing space.
Finally, they claimed the bonus point and the win, when Rory Hutchinson’s delayed pass sent Freeman to the corner for his second.
