Last-gasp David Kriel penalty seals dramatic Bulls victory over Leinster in URC thriller

What drama!

Bulls centre David Kriel proved once again that he has ice in his veins as he slotted a lengthy penalty after the hooter to secure a thrilling 21-20 United Rugby Championship triumph over Leinster at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.

The Bulls victory ended Leinster’s remarkable 12-match unbeaten run, and took the Pretoria side back up to third on the log on 45 points, one above the Sharks. 

The home team were down and out at 17-6 just after halftime following an error-strewn display up to that point.

They just couldn’t get going with ball-in-hand, with a number of handling mistakes and poor decision-making halting their momentum.

Jake White must have been a worried man when Leinster wing Andrew Osborne finished in the left-hand corner to put the Dublin out 11 points ahead with 35 minutes to go.

It looked like there would be no way back for the Bulls as their forwards battled to dominate a Leinster side missing most of their Ireland Test players.

An unfortunate 15th-minute yellow card to loosehead prop Alulutho Tshakweni for a supposed dangerous grass-cutter tackle didn’t help the Bulls’ cause, and they were unable to find their touch on attack and defence.

Instead, after an early three-pointer from Bulls flyhalf Keagan Johannes, it was the visitors who grabbed the first try in the fourth minute through All Black star Jordie Barrett.

Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs didn’t secure a kick from Leinster, and the bouncing ball was recycled before Barrett cruised through a non-existent defence.

Flyhalf Ross Byrne added a penalty at the end of the first quarter to make it 10-3, although Johannes reduced it to 10-6 at halftime.

But then came the heavy blow in the 44th minute as Osborne finished off a slick move, although the try needed the TMO to confirm the grounding – although Bulls fans might’ve felt that the No 11 lost control as he dotted down.

Credit to the Bulls, though, for not giving up. White introduced the likes of Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Johan Grobbelaar to make a real impact in the front row, and so too did loose forwards Marco van Staden and later Nizaam Carr.

The hosts eventually became more direct, and were rewarded with a penalty try in the 57th minute when Leinster collapsed a driving maul, which also saw prop Thomas Clarkson receive a yellow card.

Suddenly it was only 17-13 to Leinster, and the Bulls pack kept plugging away and wore the visitors down.

Their perseverance paid off as Grobbelaar crashed over from a maul with nine minutes to go to put the Bulls in front at 18-17.

In a helter-skelter close, disaster struck when Bulls wing Sebastian de Klerk was red-carded for taking out Osborne in the air, and soon after that, Byrne booted over a penalty to put Leinster 20-18 up.

But following a number of scrum resets, the Bulls pack managed to come up with a decisive scrum to win a late penalty, and Kriel – just like he did against Benetton before – showed a cool temperament to slot the ball through the uprights for a last-gasp victory.

Points-Scorers

Bulls 21 – Tries: Penalty Try, Johan Grobbelaar. Penalties: Keagan Johannes (2), David Kriel (1).

Leinster 20 – Tries: Jordie Barrett, Andrew Osborne. Conversions: Ross Byrne (2). Penalties: Byrne (2).