Glasgow Warriors gore Bulls to be crowned URC champions in Pretoria

Bold, brave and when needed belligerent, Glasgow Warriors upstaged the Bulls in the final of a nerve-jangling United Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

They held their nerve in the closing minutes as they twice repelled the Bulls' maul to hold on for a famous 21-16 victory.

The win will be a huge personal triumph for head coach Franco Smith who masterminded a victory many thought improbable.

The visitors brought with them the hopes and aspirations of a gritty but vibrant port city which Smith has made his mission to win over. Rangers and Celtic may well have shared the joy.

The much-anticipated running of the Bulls did not materialise.

It was General Franco who proved the matador as his team with Jack Dempsey and Matt Fagerson leading the charge pierced the Bulls where it matters most.

His troops staged a remarkable rearguard action on their last visit to Loftus Versfeld and again they absorbed huge pressure before they delivered telling blows in the second half.

While the Bulls' maul failed them when it mattered most, the Warriors by contrast used it as a platform for their assault on the URC title.

They scored three times the number of maul tries of the second-most proficient team in that facet and their superiority in that department paid handsome dividends in the final.

They rode the early storm as they stood tall in the tackle and gradually rose to the challenge laid down by the home team.

The Bulls started with the same intent as they did in their previous final but again their opponents found ways to short-circuit Jake White's team.

Sure, the visitors didn't have it all their own way in the first half in the line-out and the scrum but they gradually rose to the challenge.

They were equally undeterred by Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar performing Malcolm Marx-like miracles at the breakdown.

The Warriors initially found the going tough. Johan Goosen doubled the Bulls' lead in the 15th minute penalty and once Marco van Staden brought more tangible proof of the Bulls' then dominance with a try, the home side looked a decent bet to lift the trophy for the first time.

Just when it seemed there would be no easy passage for the Warriors, they surged up field aided and abetted by some flimsy defending. Visiting captain Kyle Steyn came desperately close in the 32nd minute but the visitors fluffed their lines with the try line at their mercy.

With so many doors slammed shut, the visitors deserve kudos for their perseverance.

They showed the warrior qualities that helped them topple the defending champions in front of their faithful last weekend.

They made the most from a Bulls' blunder at the line-out and marched up field with purpose through the combative flanker Fagerson. They then backed their forwards as they crabbed ever closer before lock Scott Cummings made it over.

That try breathed new life into the contest.

The sight of Bulls' No8 Cameron Hanekom leaving the field gingerly in the 46th minute would have done little to ease the nerves of the home fans.

Apart from making the hard yards up front, the Warriors were also starting to profit from their aerial game mainly through scrumhalf George Horne.

The Bulls eventually broke out of their half and when they did, they earned a much-needed penalty that Goosen converted.

The Bulls however made a hash of the kickoff as they gifted the Warriors a penalty that was booted out near the corner flag. Their much-vaunted maul sprang into action with replacement hooker George Turner the beneficiary of a five-pointer at the back of the human caterpillar.

Not that the Glaswegians are agoraphobics. They revel in the wide-open spaces too.

They then showed their dexterity with ball in hand as they ran the Bulls ragged in a 10-minute spell that helped alter the course of the match.

Sure, swiftness of hand helped fashion a try for their impeccable outside centre Huw Jones.

They then held on doggedly for a deserved victory.

Scorers

Bulls (13) 16 — Try: Marco van Staden. Conversion: Johan Goosen. Penalties: Goosen (3).

Warriors (7) 21 — Tries: Scott Cummings, George Turner, Huw Jones. Conversions: George Horne (3).