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Bulls leave Connacht with maximum points after red card frenzy

By PA
Mpilo Gumede of Vodacom Bulls, left, is shown a red card by referee Mike Adamson during the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Vodacom Bulls at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. (Photo By Tyler Miller/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Connacht were left to rue Sean Jansen’s 21st-minute red card as they fell to a 28-14 defeat to the Vodacom Bulls in their BKT United Rugby Championship clash at Dexcom Stadium.

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The returning Johan Goosen converted tries from Sebastian de Klerk and Embrose Papier to establish a 14-0 half-time lead, with Connacht stung by Jansen’s dismissal.

Further scores from David Kriel and Canan Moodie saw the third-placed South Africans win for only the second time in eight URC visits to Ireland.

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They also finished the game with 14 men – number eight Mpilo Gumede was sent off for an off-the-ball incident – before Connacht replacements David Hawkshaw and Caolin Blade both touched down to cut the gap.

Bulls winger De Klerk swiftly opened the scoring in the left corner, the beneficiary of player-of-the-match Papier’s smart break off a maul.

Fixture
United Rugby Championship
Connacht
14 - 28
Full-time
Bulls
All Stats and Data

In a key moment midway through the half Jansen was singled out by the match officials, receiving a red for a direct elbow to the head in a tackle on Marcell Coetzee.

Shortly before the interval a Cameron Hanekom turnover set up Moodie to kick in-field and pacy scrum-half Papier was first to the ball to score.

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The hosts fell further behind soon after the restart.

A dummying Kriel darted over from the left wing, with Goosen nailing the tricky conversion.

Springbok flyer Moodie bagged a 54th-minute bonus point for the Bulls, racing clear after intercepting a Jack Carty pass.

However, the numbers were evened up when Gumede was guilty of having his fingers near the eye area of Hawkshaw in an attempted push.

Wind-backed Connacht did at least have the better of the final quarter.

Hawkshaw powered in under the posts and Blade turned a Shane Jennings break into a 74th-minute score which Cathal Forde also converted.

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Comments

1 Comment
T
TM 9 days ago

I hope that the bulls no 8 receives a lengthy ban . Disgusting despicable act of clear eye gouging. Totally unacceptable

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'It doesn’t make sense for New Zealand to deny itself access to world-class players'

There are a couple of inadequacies in this articles points as well.


First

Robertson, in what he has said publicly, is building his argument for change as a means to close the gap that is increasing between the All Blacks and South Africa.

Based on recent performances, the All Blacks are better than the Springboks.


Second

Both games saw the All Blacks lead coming into the last 30 minutes, only for the momentum to shift dramatically once the two sides emptied their respective benches.

The failings of the second half were game plan related, they happened regardless of whether the bench had yet (play got worse very early in the half, even in the first half) been used or not.


And third

Robertson’s view is that because the Boks don’t lose access to their experienced players when they head offshore, it gives them an advantage

Didn't Razor have the most experienced team all year?


Also

“Sam Cane and Ardie Savea with Wallace Siti, what a balance that is.

This is part of Razor's problem. That's a terrible balance. You instead want something like Sam Cane, Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Sititi. Or Ardie Savea, Sititi, Scott Barrett. Dalton Papaili'i, Savea, Finau. That is balance, not two old struggling to keep up players and an absolute rookie.

It has changed. Not many go north, more go to Japan, so how do we get the balance right to ensure that players who have given loyalty, longevity and who are still playing well

Experience is a priceless commodity in international rugby and New Zealand has a system where it throws away players precisely when they are at their most valuable.

You mean how do we take advantage of this new environment, because nothing has effectively changed has it. It's simply Japan now instead of Europe. What's it going to be like in the future, how is the new American league going to change things?


Mo'unga is the only real valid reason for debating change, but what's far more important is the wide discussion happening that's taking the whole game into account. The current modem throws players away because they decided to go with a 5 team model rather than a 12 or 14 team model. Players have to be asked to leave at the point were we know they aren't going to be All Blacks, when they are playing their best rugby, reached their peak. In order to reset, and see if the next guy coming through can improve on the 'peak' of the last guy. Of course it's going to take years before they even reach the departing players standards, let alone see if they can pass them.


What if there can be a change that enables New Zealand to have a model were players like Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ethan Roots, Warner Dearns are All Blacks that make their experienced and youth developemnt the envy of the World. That is the discussion that really needs to be had, not how easy it is to allow Mo'unga to play again. That's how the All Blacks end up winning 3 World Cups in a row.

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