Bulls tackle their way into URC final

Cameron Hanekom will not be in action when the Springboks play Wales in London next weekend, but he sure smoothed his part for engagement against Ireland here on July 6 in this United Rugby Championship semifinal.

Hanekom helped the Bulls keep their unblemished record on home soil in semifinals over the last decade intact when they downed Irish blue blood team Leinster 25-20 in a bone-crushing clash at Loftus Stadium on Saturday.

They advanced to next weekend's final on the back of a defensive performance from the top drawer thus marking the end of the road for Leinster in the semifinals for the third straight year.

The Bulls' defensive set, organisation and sheer application in the tackle carried the day against a team under the defensive tutelage of former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber.

It was a tight, nervy affair in which the Bulls initially held the advantage on the scoreboard but Leinster dug deep to level things out before hosts' right wing Sergeal Peterson struck the decisive blow when he pick-pocketed the Leinster defence from a contestable kick.

While Petersen applied the finishing touches on the scoreboard it was Hanekom that laid down an early marker for the impact he was to have on the game with turnover at the ruck.

Hanekom found himself at the centre of a wholehearted Bulls effort that required all hands on deck.

He was resolute in defence, immovable at the ruck, while his ball carries usually ended in exclamation, never full stops.

Around the 70th minute, the Bulls absorbed everything Leinster threw at them through the passage of 21 phases. In perhaps the defining non-scoring moment of the match it was Hanekom who latched on to the ball to engineer a turnover that helped draw the sting from Leinster's effort.

The Bulls took their cue from the No8 and continued to swarm Leinster into submission.

The was a high-intensity clash and players on both teams breathed heavily after 35 minutes.

To be fair, so did the crowd just getting into the ground. Down the hill from the Union Buildings negotiating the last 500m to Loftus on four wheels took more give and take than the formation of a government of national unity.

On the field too, the heavy traffic held sway.

The Bulls with Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw in the vanguard were surer of foot in the scrum. Against an all-Ireland front row that must have made for pleasant viewing for the Bok coaching staff.

The Bulls were also making a nuisance of themselves in defensive rucks. Leinster and Ireland scrumhalf Jameson Gibson-Park showed his frustration at his forwards' imprecision as early as the ninth minute.

Gibson-Park however typically had the ball on a string when he applied the boot.

Gradually Leinster's contestable kicks were paying dividends, while the Bulls probed through Willie le Roux's cross kicks.

In the first half, the Bulls had a Devon Williams effort chalked off due to an earlier Marco van Staden infringement and more indiscipline cost them in the second when Petersen was yellow-carded for applying fingers to a Leinster pass that carried peril.

From the resultant penalty, Leinster made a surge for the try line and the barely marked James Lowe dotted down in the corner.

With Petersen still banished, the Bulls made the most of a 50/22 booted by Le Roux when Johan Goosen breached the defence as he approached from a near-unstoppable angle.

The Bulls applied the squeeze towards the end of the first half and their endeavour earned them a scrum penalty that Goosen converted from an acute angle.

The Bulls struck an even more telling blow just after the break when they broke left before Harold Vorster grubbered into space. Petersen dashed onto the bouncing ball unchallenged to score.

A 17-7 lead put the Bulls in the pound seats. Leinster however had the more experienced bench.

The visitors' experience in tight, tense contests came to the fore. A try for the impeccable Caelin Doris and two Ross Byrne penalties evened things out but it was Petersen's swan dive try that had his team winging their way to the final.

Scorers

Bulls (10) 25 — Tries: Sergeal Petersen (2), Johan Goosen. Conversions: Johan Goosen (2). Penalties: Goosen (2).

Leinster (7) 20 — Tries: James Lowe, Caelin Doris. Conversions: Ross Byrne (2). Penalties: Byrne (2).