Following the Bulls\u2019 21-23 victory over the Scarlets, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship clash.<\/p>\n
Top line<\/p>\n
The Bulls<\/a> strengthened their bid for a place in the URC<\/a> play-offs with an unconvincing win at Parc y Scarlets<\/a>, but a win nonetheless, as they leave Wales having collected nine out of a possible 10 league points.<\/p>\n Once again, it was Handre Pollard who came up in the clash for the men from Pretoria with the double Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks veteran slotting two late penalties to steer his side over the line.<\/p>\n The fly-half also grabbed a first-half try, which he converted, and ended the match having scored 18 of his side\u2019s 23 points.<\/p>\n Two of those points came from the conversion he slotted after Junior Boks star Cheswill Jooste ripped through the Scarlets\u2019 defence from a set lineout move running a sharp line off the shoulder of Harold Vorster in the second minute of the game. While it was a bright start for the Bulls, the Scarlets\u2019 response was swift as Callum Woolley effectively replicated Jooste\u2019s try with a similar run to cut through the visitors\u2019 defence.<\/p>\n Pollard was the beneficiary of Vorster and Embrose Papier\u2019s brilliance with the double cantering upfield after the centre caught the Scarlets\u2019 fringe defence napping and linked up with his scrum-half, who went on one of his trademark runs. Papier managed to buy time to link up with Elrigh Louw, who found Ruan Vermaak in support, who gave the final pass to the fly-half.<\/p>\n That try meant that the Bulls held a four-point advantage at the break, but that was whiped out nine minutes into the second half as Fletcher Anderson put the Scarlets ahead with his five-pointer when the visitors were down to 13 men.<\/p>\n However, Pollard edged the Bulls back ahead with a penalty on 68 minutes. Joe Hawkins replied with a similar kick with six minutes left on the clock, but it was the Springboks\u2019 great who had the final say with a clutch penalty to clinch the victory.<\/p>\n Scarlets actually play with pride<\/p>\n You\u2019d swear that it was the Scarlets who were chasing a place in the URC play-offs today and not the Bulls as Dwayne Peel\u2019s men show real heart, aggression, and drive in the manner in which they went about their business. The hosts came into this match boasting just four URC wins this season and were beaten in all four of their Investec Champions Cup games.<\/p>\n The adage of playing for pride is very much true for the Scarlets, as all they can really do in the final rounds of the season is just improve their final ranking in the standings.<\/p>\n That can play into the psyche of the players in one of two ways: the first being positive, as they actually show real improvement in their performance and give the fans something to cheer about; or negatively, they effectively give up, and the bad season gets worse.<\/p>\n On the evidence of the last fortnight of Scarlets rugby, it\u2019s been the former as they ran Cardiff close last weekend and fought to the bitter end against the Bulls this week.<\/p>\n It\u2019s positive signs for Peel and the club going forward, for how long only the WRU really knows, as the team shows there is some fight still and is hellbent on improving in the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n Edinburgh v Sharks: Five takeaways as \u2018moment of magic\u2019 helps Scots to \u2018rare feat\u2019 and ends injury-hit South Africans\u2019 hopes<\/a><\/p>\n Discipline continues to hurt Bulls<\/p>\n Much like their Champions Cup exit at the hands of the Glasgow Warriors, the Bulls paid heavily for their ill-discipline, with Stedman Gans and Francois Klopper visiting the sin-bin at a crucial point in the second half.<\/p>\n Gans was sent to the naughty chair after grabbing a Scarlets player off the ball when he was caught out of position, and similarly, Klopper was judged to have been cynically offside when he made a tackle and was rather fortunate not to concede a penalty try for his actions.<\/p>\n What makes both sanctions even worse for Ackermann is that they were a result of a failure in the defensive system and a lack of work rate to be in the right positions.<\/p>\n The Scarlets scored just five points during the period when they were down to 13 men, but the impact of those sin-binnings goes beyond just the scoreboard, as someone has to fill the voids those players leave in both attack and defence, the kind of fatigue that becomes more and more important the deeper you go in the season.<\/p>\n Stormers v Glasgow: Five takeaways as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cape Town outfit \u2018awake from their slumber\u2019 against \u2018shambolic\u2019 Warriors<\/a><\/p>\n Springboks come up in the clutch for the Pretorians<\/p>\n Discipline looked to be the downfall of the Bulls again, but they were saved by their Springboks stars who came up in the clutch. Pollard was the man who delivered the killer blow, but credit must also go to the likes of Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese and Willie Le Roux off the bench.<\/p>\n Le Roux sparked the attack into life and looked to have set up the match-winning try with a wrong-foot cross kick, but that was harshly chalked off for a forward pass way back in the build-up. From the ensuing scrum, Van Staden, Wessels and Klopper combined to shunt the Scarlets off their own feed, win the penalty, and Pollard popped it just outside the opposition\u2019s 22.<\/p>\n Van Staden continued his fine showings at hooker by finding his jumper, the pack went to work with the maul and forced a penalty out of the Scarlets, and Pollard did the rest.<\/p>\n Lions v Connacht: Five takeaways as one-Test Springbok \u2018shows his class\u2019 in hosts\u2019 win which enhances their home play-off hopes<\/a><\/p>\n Finding a way to win<\/p>\n The massive positive for Ackermann, besides the fact that the Bulls finish the weekend in seventh place and remain in the running for a playoff place is that his team is finding a way to win.<\/p>\n Last week against the Dragons it was the massive impact that they received from their bench and while it was less pretty this weekend, the replacements and Pollard\u2019s boot got them over the line. In December last year, this kind of performance would have resulted in a loss for the Bulls, but now, they are trending in the right direction, where they are eeking out wins, whether they are ugly or not.<\/p>\n Winning is just as much a habit as losing, and right now, the Bulls are benefitting from the former as they return to Loftus, where two favourable fixtures await them against the Zebre and Benetton, respectively.<\/p>\n