Late surge leads Brumbies to 28-38 win over Bulls
Handre Pollard ended up on the losing side
©PA
Bulls 28-38 Brumbies, Loftus Versfeld
Scorecard
Handre Pollard contributed with 18 points but it was Brumbies, who returned back to winning ways following a 28-38 win over Bulls in their Super Rugby encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Brumbies are third in Australian Conference while Bulls are languishing at the bottom of the South African group.
Bulls got off to a promising start in the fifth minute when Handre Pollard contributed with a converted try but two minutes later Kyle Godwin responded with a try of his own and a conversion from Christian Leali'ifano saw the scores levelled.
The Brumbies fly-half also kicked another penalty goal in the 17th minute but it was home side that ended the first half with a 14-10 lead when Roelof Smit dotted down in the 19th minute that was improved by Pollard.
Brumbies scored their first points after the break when Lachlan McCaffrey grounded in the 43rd minute and Leali'ifano slotted the conversion. The momentum once again swung towards the South African side with a 50th minute try from John-Ben Kotze. Pollard missed out the conversion but kicked penalties on either side to make it 25-17.
The gap between the two teams came to just one point with the final quarter to go when Folau Fainga'a strolled past the post in the 57th minute and Leali'ifano converted it. However, Fainga’a turned from hero to villain when he was sent-off for headbutting Matthys Basson.
Despite, being one man down, Brumbies dominated the final 10 minutes with tries from Thomas Banks (71') and Andy Muirhead (76') and replacement Wharenui Hawera kicked both the conversions to complete a 28-38 victory.
