It was a close call for the Bulls, but a converted try by Akker van der Merwe in the 78th minute gave them a 17-15 win over Benetton in Treviso on Friday night.

Benetton flyhalf Tomas Albornoz opened the scoring with a penalty in the first minute, followed by another from fullback Rhyno Smith soon after. Albornoz added a third penalty in the 35th minute with the Bulls trailing 9-3 at half-time.

‘David Kriel saved the day’

The Bulls struggled with discipline and poorly executed set pieces, which added to their frustrations on the night.

Albornoz once again opened the scoring in the second half with a penalty in the 63rd minute, but blindside flanker Reinhardt Ludwig crossed the whitewash for the Bulls with less than 15 minutes left in the game.

A fifth penalty by Albornoz meant Benetton went five points clear, but Van der Merwe’s last-minute try and the conversion by inside centre David Kriel saved the day for the men from Pretoria.

After six rounds in the competition, the Bulls are sitting pretty in second place on the table, six points behind Leinster. In today’s matches, the Stormers will take on Glasgow Warriors in Cape Town, while the Sharks face Munster in Durban.  

Top of the table Leinster will play the Lions – the only unbeaten South African side so far in the competition – at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin this evening.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger cg