Play nzherald.co.nz's rugby Pick the Score competition - go to: pickthescore.nzherald.co.nz
Bulls 59 Blues 26
KEY POINTS:
It was a trampling. Like those who make a mistake in Pamplona's festival, the Blues' lapses meant they were stomped by the Bulls.
Any hope of a Blues victory in Pretoria yesterday was gone after the first quarter as the Bulls punished the visitors' errors and stage fright and piled on a 26-0 lead. After that the scoring was far closer but the damage was irrevocable and the Bulls eventually signed off with a 59-26 triumph.
Those 59 points were the most the side had conceded in its 14-year history.
Worse followed for the Blues in the medical room where initial diagnoses placed four more players on the rapidly expanding injured list of those unlikely to be considered for this week's next challenge against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Exciting new wing Rene Ranger had a fractured eyesocket, lock Kurtis Haiu was struggling after a head knock, Isaia Toeava was hampered by a knee problem and loosehead prop Tony Woodock had strained a hamstring.
Reinforcements have begun arriving though. New fathers Jerome Kaino and Taniela Moa arrived in Pretoria shortly before kickoff while Joe Rokocoko is also expected to join the squad this week after the weekend birth of his first child.
Captain Keven Mealamu beat concerns about his strained calf to bump up his side's experience for the match but even he must have been shocked by the ease and speed of the Bulls' initial onslaught. Several of the tries were soft concessions, others the result of misjudgment.
Whatever the reason, the Blues' hopes of victory were terminal.
"We were rocked early and we expected it from the Bulls," coach Pat Lam said. "You can do all the planning but you don't realise what it is like until you face it."
The Bulls had applied pressure from the start, they fed off the Blues' mistakes and the tourists had conceded some soft tries. Many in the squad had not been to South Africa before, they had not felt the passion and power of those foes or ever played at altitude.
Once they settled, the Blues unveiled the expansive approach they wanted to move the Bulls pack around the ground. Ranger started the scoring with his display of speed and power overshadowing his more celebrated opponent Bryan Habana for large chunks of the match.
Toeava at fullback showed a high workrate mixed with solid decisions and attacking clout before he was hurt near the end while Anthony Tuitavake and Paul Williams also worked hard.
Similar toil came from No 8 Chris Lowrey, whose industry showed throughout, while Anthony Boric compared favourably with his test opponents as the Blues scrum and lineout competed strongly.
The difference was the Bulls' combinations, instincts built up over time, the individual stamp applied by classy halfback Fourie du Preez and Pierre Spies at No 8 and the side's power at the breakdown.
"They [South Africa] are World Cup champions and are used to this competition," Lam said.
Many in the local media knew little or nothing about a number of the Blues squad and while there had been a number of high-profile player exits, there was no point in complaining about those circumstances. "That's what we've got and our job as coaches is to get them through it," Lam said.
Senior players like Mealamu and Justin Collins had led a team debrief about the lessons they should take from the match and which they could use against the Stormers and beyond.
"It is still early and not many teams will come here and beat these guys," Lam said of the Bulls. There was a great deal of talent throughout the Blues squad and they would just have to note this second-round loss on their rugby experience charts.
