Bulls thrash Ospreys as Springbok hopeful produces statement ...

Bulls back David Kriel shone for Jake White’s charges as they defeated Ospreys 61-24 in the United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versveld.

The 25-year-old had a hand in four of the Bulls’ nine tries, scoring one and assisting three as the hosts cruised to an impressive victory.

Springbok wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie both crossed for two tries, with Johan Grobbelaar, Embrose Papier, Kriel and Willie le Roux adding scores of their own, along with a penalty try and six Chris Smith conversions.

Toby Booth’s charges could not back up their memorable win from last week despite tries from Luke Davies, Keiran Williams and Keelan Giles.

Wales’ World Cup co-captain Dewi Lake made his comeback from the hamstring injury sustained in January, but it was otherwise a gloomy afternoon for the Welsh region.

With three rounds of the regular season remaining, they remain firmly in the hunt for the quarter-finals, even if they fell one try short of securing a bonus point at Loftus Versfeld.

The Bulls were magnificent from the start and their driving maul made its presence felt early on with Grobbelaar the scorer. Not to be outshone, however, the backs then combined stylishly for Kriel to touch down.

Bulls v Ospreys: Five takeaways as David Kriel shows Springbok credentials while Loftus a step too far Toby Booth’s men

The home defence was unpicked near the half-hour mark when slick handling by the Ospreys’ tight five forwards created a chance that was finished by Davies, but the theme of the home side scoring freely promptly resumed.

Arendse claimed one of the easier tries he will score after the Bulls forwards showed skill to keep the ball alive before scrum-half Papier found his wing with a bullet pass.

Kriel then picked off a Rhys Henry off-load to set up an easy finish for Moodie and the centre was provider once more shortly after the interval when his grubber was collected and touched down by Moodie.

The Ospreys continued to accelerate their downfall when Justin Tipuric knocked on in the tackle, and inevitably, it was Kriel who reacted best to the mistake by setting up Papier.

Williams crossed to temporarily halt the one-way traffic, but the route resumed through Arendse, and a penalty try was awarded for a deliberate knock-on by Max Nagy, who was sent to the sin bin as a result.

Ospreys wing Giles produced an athletic finish, but just as his side were pushing for the try that would clinch a bonus point, Le Roux capitalised on an error to plunder a late score.

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Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (c), 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Jaco van der Valt, 23 Devon Williams

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Jack Walsh, 9 Luke Davies, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Morgan Morse, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 Adam Beard, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ben Warren, 19 James Ratti, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Evardi Boshoff

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Cwengile Jadzweni (SARU), Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

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