The All Blacks completed a clean sweep of the franchise fixtures on the Greatest Rivalry Tour, running in eight tries to beat the Bulls 50-19 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Leading 24-0 at half-time after a dominant opening 40 minutes, the tourists met stiffer resistance after the break but still had more than enough firepower to pull away for a commanding victory in their final hit-out before the first Test against the Springboks.
Key moments
11 mins – Bulls denied by TMO. Hooker Juann Else driven close from a rolling maul but held up short. On-field call of no try upheld after review. Bulls scrum 5m out.
12 mins – Massive All Blacks scrum. Xavier Numia and the pack blow the Bulls off the ball on their own 5m line. Penalty won, Barrett kicks to touch.
14 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Josh Moorby steps inside one defender and stretches out to score in the left corner after slick hands through Segner, Lienert-Brown, Jacomb and Barrett. Leroy Carter’s direct running created the initial momentum. Barrett’s conversion misses. (Bulls 0–5 All Blacks)
16 mins – Bulls try disallowed. Hanro Liebenberg pounces on a loose ball after Fabian Holland fumbles near his own line, but TMO rules a knock-on by Willie le Roux in the build-up.
19 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Josh Moorby scores his second after Peter Lakai’s inside pass, capping a flowing move sparked by Leroy Carter grabbing a Barrett chip kick. Barrett converts from the touchline. (Bulls 0–12 All Blacks)
25 mins – Josh Jacomb lands a 50/22 kick to give the All Blacks attacking field position. Left-footed, from a right-footed kicker.
30 mins – YELLOW CARD BULLS: Tighthead prop Francois Klopper sin-binned for persistent team offside infringements while the All Blacks were hammering the line.
32 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Codie Taylor spots a hole from a tap penalty 5m out, feinting initially to draw the defence offside before burrowing through. Jacomb’s conversion misses. (Bulls 0–17 All Blacks)
40+1 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Codie Taylor scores his second after a flowing counter-attack. Xavier Numia and Fabian Holland provide the final passes, Holland delivering a slick no-look flick to put Taylor through a hole near the posts. Jacomb converts. (Bulls 0–24 All Blacks)
Half-time: Bulls 0–24 All Blacks. A dominant first half from the tourists. The scrum was enormous, Segner outstanding at the breakdown with multiple turnovers, and the backs clinical when given space. Moorby and Taylor scored two apiece. The Bulls showed early intent with their maul and Jeandre Rudolph was immense, but could not breach the All Blacks’ defence.
42 mins – TRY BULLS: Lock Ruan Vermaak peels around the back of a lineout maul and powers low to score. Initially queried by the TMO but referee Nika Amashukeli overrules, awarding the try. Curwin Bosch converts. (Bulls 7–24 All Blacks)
44 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Leroy Carter tip-toes down the right touchline to score in the corner after Peter Lakai surged to the 5m line from a Bulls error off the restart. Jacomb’s conversion misses. (Bulls 7–29 All Blacks)
49 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Rieko Ioane strolls over out wide after Anton Lienert-Brown burst through a hole and fired a flick pass to Carter, who collected on the bounce and fed Ioane inside. Jacomb converts. (Bulls 7–36 All Blacks)
54 mins – TRY BULLS: Stravino Jacobs finishes a brilliant long-range try after Jeandre Rudolph zips off the back of a scrum down the short side and links with Curwin Bosch. Jacobs steps inside Barrett to score. Bosch’s conversion hits the upright. (Bulls 12–36 All Blacks)
67 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Leroy Carter dives over for his second after a sequence of pop passes from Barrett and Jacomb on the edge of the 22. Jacomb converts. (Bulls 12–43 All Blacks)
73 mins – TRY BULLS: Captain Marcell Coetzee burrows over from close range after sustained forward pressure. Bosch converts. (Bulls 19–43 All Blacks)
77 mins – TRY ALL BLACKS: Wallace Sititi powers through soft tackles from the base of a ruck to score under the posts. Kyle Preston and Timoci Tavatavanawai provided the momentum with powerful carries. Jacomb converts. (Bulls 19–50 All Blacks)
Full-time: Bulls 19–50 All Blacks
Thirty years on from clinching their first series success on South African soil, the All Blacks returned to Loftus Versfeld and delivered their most complete performance of the tour. Playing at 1,350 metres above sea level on a clear Pretoria evening, they bossed the gainline, dominated the breakdown and ran the Bulls ragged to complete a three-from-three sweep of the franchise fixtures before the business end of the Greatest Rivalry Tour begins.
The scoreline flattered neither side. The All Blacks were irresistible in the first half, running for a staggering 248 post-contact metres before the break and forcing the Bulls into 24 missed tackles across the opening 40 minutes. But as head coach Dave Rennie noted afterwards, the tourists left plenty of points on the park through inaccurate finishing and loose kicking in general play.
“We just lacked a bit of finish,” Rennie told Sky Sport. “It was a bit sloppy tonight, so we left a lot of points out there. I just felt we kicked too much ball out early which gave them too much set piece. We want to put up contestables so we can at least force them to play back. So we will tidy that up.”
For all those caveats, there was much to admire. The scrum, a source of concern against the Stormers ten days ago, was a weapon. Xavier Numia produced a statement performance at loosehead on his first tour appearance, and one enormous shove on the All Blacks’ own 5m line in the 12th minute — which blew the Bulls backwards and won a penalty — set the tone for the evening. Tyrel Lomax’s return at tighthead, in his first match since arriving in South Africa with an infected cut, was equally encouraging. Rennie credited scrum coach Jason Ryan for the improvement.
But it was openside flanker Anton Segner who was the standout performer, earning a deserved man-of-the-match award. The German-born loose forward topped the tackle count with 13, made 12 carries, and secured multiple breakdown turnovers to ensure a consistent supply of quality ball. His intervention to hold up Bulls lock Ruan Vermaak over the line in the second half was another pivotal moment. Segner has made a compelling case for the Test 23.
“Credit to the Bulls, I don’t think the scoreboard reflects how hard of a game it was, especially in the second half when they really came out firing and put us under pressure,” Segner said. “There’s some big boys there and they only came one way, which was straight down the middle.”
The All Blacks had to absorb early pressure before breaking the deadlock. The Bulls launched several driving mauls from inside the 22, with hooker Else held up centimetres short in the 11th minute after their pack had built a serious head of steam. But after that statement scrum, the All Blacks cleared their lines and quickly transitioned into attack. A flowing move through multiple hands ended with Josh Moorby stepping inside one defender and stretching out to score in the left corner in the 14th minute. Barrett’s conversion drifted wide.
The Bulls were then denied by the TMO when Liebenberg pounced on a loose ball and appeared to score after Holland fumbled near his own line — a moment the lock will want to forget — but a knock-on by le Roux in the initial build-up was spotted on review. The All Blacks made the hosts pay minutes later. Barrett launched a chip to the right that was brilliantly taken on the full by Leroy Carter, who linked with Rieko Ioane before the ball was worked wide for Peter Lakai to feed Moorby inside for his second. Barrett converted from the touchline.
Josh Jacomb, starting at first five-eighth for the first time, produced a moment of quality with a 50/22 kick — left-footed, from a natural right-footer — that gave the All Blacks attacking field position. They hammered away at the Bulls’ line under sustained pressure until prop Klopper was sin-binned for persistent team infringements. Captain Codie Taylor, marking his return from a calf injury and his first appearance of the tour, drove over from a tap penalty to make it 17-0.
Taylor scored again on the stroke of half-time in a try that encapsulated the All Blacks’ collective effort. Holland, who had been outstanding despite the earlier fumble, powered a counter-ruck to win turnover ball. When it was worked towards the line, it was Holland again — standing off a ruck — who delivered a slick no-look flick pass to put Taylor through a hole near the posts. Jacomb converted for a 24-0 lead.
The Bulls roared back within two minutes of the restart. Lock Vermaak peeled around the back of a lineout maul and charged low towards the line, stretching out to ground the ball. In a rare and welcome moment of common sense, referee Amashukeli overruled TMO Eric Gauzins, who argued there was no conclusive evidence of grounding, and awarded the try. Bosch converted and the crowd of 30,930 roared.
The All Blacks’ response was instant. From the restart, Segner forced an error with a powerful tackle, and from the resulting turnover the ball was shifted wide right for Carter to tip-toe his way down the touchline and score in the corner. Three minutes later, Lienert-Brown burst through a hole and fired a flick pass to Carter, who collected on the bounce and fed Ioane inside for the centre to stroll over. At 36-7, the contest was effectively over.
The Bulls produced the try of the match in the 54th minute. Number eight Jeandre Rudolph, who had been immense throughout, set sail down the blindside from a scrum, linked with Curwin Bosch, and the fly-half drew two defenders before releasing Stravino Jacobs down the touchline. Jacobs stepped inside Barrett’s tackle attempt and crashed over for a try that will live long in his memory. Bosch’s conversion struck the upright.
Carter completed his double in the 67th minute, finishing off a move that featured pop passes from Barrett and Jacomb on the edge of the 22. Coetzee burrowed over for the Bulls’ third with seven minutes remaining after sustained forward pressure, before Wallace Sititi had the final say, powering through under the posts after Timoci Tavatavanawai had softened the defence with a trademark steamrolling carry.
Taylor, captaining the All Blacks for the first time in his 110th match, was replaced at half-time as a precaution but was delighted with the display. “Another tough game for us. The Bulls turned up in patches and it was a physical game,” he said. “No disrespect to the Bulls, but the Springboks will lift the tempo and the physicality and that is what Test match footy is all about. It’s an exciting week ahead.”
Rennie confirmed that Richie Mo’unga, who arrived in Johannesburg on Friday, would not be considered for the first Test. “Richie arrived late last night. He is excited and jumping out of his skin,” Rennie said. “He will spend the next week getting his head around things and he will not be considered for the first Test. We will hopefully see him play in the game against the Lions.”
On the fitness of his walking wounded, Rennie said he expected Cam Roigard and Will Jordan to be available for the first Test, but conceded he was “sweating on” Damian McKenzie’s ankle. “We are confident that Cam Roigard and Will Jordan will come right. Damian McKenzie, maybe we’re sweating on a tad, but we still think he will come right.”
The All Blacks now head to Johannesburg for the first Test against the Springboks at Ellis Park next Saturday. Three wins from three against heavily depleted franchise sides have provided useful preparation, but as Taylor acknowledged, the Boks will represent an altogether different level of intensity. The phony war is over. The real test begins now.
Teams
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Juann Else, 1 Alu Tshakweni.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Khuta Mchunu, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Katlego Letebele, 23 Hakeem Kunene.
All Blacks: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Josh Jacomb, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Anton Segner, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Xavier Numia.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Siale Lauaki, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Emoni Narawa.
Match details
Bulls 19 (Tries: Vermaak, Jacobs, Coetzee; Conversions: Bosch 2/3)
All Blacks 50 (Tries: Moorby 2, Taylor 2, Carter 2, Ioane, Sititi; Conversions: Barrett 1/2, Jacomb 4/6)
Half-time: 0–24
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria (1,350m above sea level)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Attendance: 30,930
Man of the match: Anton Segner (All Blacks)
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