Match Report: Vodacom Bulls 21-30 Northampton Saints

Northampton Saints became the first away side to win at Loftus Versfeld in the Investec Champions Cup, as they claimed a bonus-point 21-30 victory over Vodacom Bulls in Round 2. 

The men in Black, Green and gold scored four tries to claim maximum points on their maiden trip to South Africa and remain top of Pool 3, with first-half scores from George Hendy and Juarno Augustus added to a brace for Tommy Freeman in the second half. 

And while Bulls returned Saints’ efforts through a Marcell Coetzee try and a pair scores for Cameron Hanekom, ten points from Fin Smith’s boot gave Northampton the historic the victory. 

FIRST-HALF:

Bulls thought they’d drawn first blood at Loftus Versfeld as Ambrose Papier sent a looping pass over to Devon Williams out wide, but a trip to the TMO chalked that effort off as Willie le Roux was found obstructing Saints’ defence in the build-up.

The home side got close again just minutes later after a short-thrown lineout gave Akker van der Merwe the chance to get Bulls up to the whitewash. But resolute and tireless Saints defence held their South African hosts at bay on that occasion and again on 25 minutes, as the Bulls hooker thought he’d scored again. 

Obstruction from his Bulls teammates cancelled out van der Merwe’s effort and the home side missed another chance moments later as Le Roux sent a crossfield kick over to Williams on the left though the winger couldn’t quite get to the bouncing ball.

Saints lost captain George Furbank to injury at the half-hour mark but replacement fullback Hendy made an instant impact in Pretoria, scoring with his first touch of the ball after Rory Hutchinson and Fraser Dingwall combined well, creating space for Smith to offload to Hendy outside him. 

The home side hit straight back, with Coetzee bouncing his way past Northampton’s defence to score under the posts. Goosen’s conversion put Bulls two points ahead and they soon found themselves with a man advantage too, as Emmanuel Iyogun was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements at the scrum from Saints. 

But it would be Northampton who had the final word of the half as an overthrown lineout fell into the hands of Alex Coles. 

A penalty at the next breakdown was taken quickly by scrum-half Alex Mitchell and he slipped through Bulls’ line, freeing his hands to put No. 8 Augustus over for his third score in two weeks in the Investec Champions Cup. And Smith duly converted the score to send Saints into the break 12-7 up. 

SECOND HALF:

Saints came through their period with 14 men unscathed as their defence held firm in the second half’s opening minutes, surviving a chip in behind from Le Roux that Canan Moodie couldn’t quite gather to dot down. 

Bulls’ errors in the red zone were compounded by persistence in defence for Northampton, with handling errors costing their hosts more chances to score. And fly-half Smith made Bulls pay, stretching Saints’ lead and scoring three points from the tee after their hosts went off their feet at the breakdown. 

Saints kept their foot on the gas through Mitchell's sublime 50:22 kick and when Curtis Langdon rounded the corner off the resulting lineout, the hooker would put Freeman through a gap in Bulls line to set up Saints’ third. The winger muscled his way over the whitewash and Smith added another conversion from the tee to put Saints 22-7 ahead. 

From there Bulls came back at Saints, with No. 8 Hanekom picking the ball up at the back of a scrum and racing clear over the tryline for his first. 

Goosen’s conversion brought the game within eight points and that deficit would be reduced to just one as Hanekom added a second to his tally, breaking free of Saints’ defence again.

But a monster penalty kick from Smith stretched Saints’ lead again with five minutes left on the clock and Northampton kept the pressure on, eventually claiming the bonus point try when Hutchinson dummied to superbly put Freeman in space for his second and Saints’ fourth. 

And the men in Black, Green and Gold held on through Bulls’ last-ditch efforts, with the ball eventually coming back to Smith to send into the stands and seal Saints’ first-ever win in South Africa – the final score 21-30 to the away side. 

Northampton get back to Gallagher Premiership action next weekend, as Saints return to the UK to make the trip to Saracens on Sunday 22 December (kick-off: 3pm). 

LINE-UPS:

Bulls: Le Roux, De Klerk, Moodie, Kriel, Williams, Goosen, Papier; Steenekamp, Van der Merwe, W Louw, Vermaak, Van Heerden, Coetzee, E Louw (c), Hanekom.
Replacements: Wessels, Tshakweni, Klopper, Slabbert, Xaba, Burger, Chamberlain, Gans.

Saints: Furbank (c), Freeman, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Sleightholme, F Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, C Langdon, Millar Mills, Mayanavanua, Lockett, Coles, Pollock, Augustus. 
Replacements: Wright, Haffar, Davison, Munga, Scott-Young, Pearson, McParland, Hendy.