Kriel sees red as Bulls hold off Ospreys
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls held on for a 29-19 win over the Ospreys after a chaotic second half in Swansea.
The visitors from Pretoria were in a commanding position in the first half when they scored four tries for a 26-0 lead after 23 minutes in the United Rugby Championship Round Four clash.
However, things slowly went pear-shaped for Jake White's side and they played a large portion of the second half with just 13 men.
Centre David Kriel received a red card for a dangerous fend on Ospreys flyhalf Dan Edwards. There were also yellow cards for Elrigh Louw (deliberate knock-on) and Alulutho Tshakweni (high tackle).
It was a fantastic start for the visitors as they pounced on a loose ball in the midfield before the ball was spread wide to Elrigh Louw, who ran in for the first try of the game in the third minute.
The Bulls were in again in the 11th minute when Canan Moodie ran a brilliant line on attack before feeding the ball to Kurt-Lee Arendse to run in for the five-pointer.
Things got even better for the Bulls moments later when scrumhalf Embrose Papier showed off his incredible pace by running through the Ospreys' defence from a line-out near halfway to score his team's third try.
It was just relentless from the Bulls on attack and they secured the bonus point in the 23rd minute after Arendse successfully chased and gathered the ball to score another five-pointer after a great kick from Wille le Roux.
The Ospreys' fans finally got something to cheer about in the 27th minute when hooker Dewi Lake found his way to the tryline after a powerful driving maul.
The Bulls had a try disallowed just before half-time, but they looked comfortable with a 26-5 lead.
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However, the Ospreys got a shot in the arm 10 minutes into the second half after Kriel was shown a red card. The match officials ruled that his arm made contact with the neck and head area of a tackler while he was carrying the ball
Things got worse for the Bulls two minutes later when Louw was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
The Ospreys made good use of their two-man advantage by finding space out wide and after some great running and passing by Jac Morgan, Ryan Conbeer was put into space to score his team's second try.
With nine minutes left in the match, the Bulls were reduced to 13 men again after replacement prop Alulutho Tshakweni was sent to the sin-bin for a head-on-head collision.
However, Chamberlain made things comfortable with a penalty in the 77th minute before the Ospreys had the final say with a try scored by Morgan Morris.
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The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Lake, Conbeer, Morris
Con: Edwards, Walsh
For Bulls
Tries: E Louw, Arendse 2, Papier
Cons: Chamberlain 3
Pen: Chamberlain
Red card: David Kriel (Bulls, 50' - foul play, dangerous hand-off)
Yellow cards: Elrigh Louw (Bulls, 52' - cynical play, deliberate knock-on); Alulutho Tshakweni (Bulls, 72' - foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (captain), 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Lewis Jones, 20 Will Greatbanks, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Luke Scully, 23 Jack Walsh.
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)