Bulls Player Ratings and Analysis After Defeat to Stormers in United Rugby Championship

Image credits: Gallo images

The Bulls suffered a narrow 19-16 defeat to the Stormers in their latest South African derby, and here's how the players rated. Devon Williams started well but made a few errors late on, earning him a score of 5. Sebastian de Klerk and Stedman Gans were starved of possession in attack, also scoring 5. David Kriel kicked his goals when needed but couldn't make an impact in attack, scoring 6.

Willie le Roux's experiment at fly-half didn't work out, with a few poor plays and a needless yellow card, resulting in a score of 4. Embrose Papier did well considering the conditions, playing at tempo and distributing well, scoring 6. Nizaam Carr put in a classy performance, making plenty of work for himself on both sides of the pitch, scoring 7. Reinhardt Ludwig got through heaps of work in every area of the game, making himself a nuisance in the breakdown, scoring 6.

The front row of Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, and Gerhard Steenekamp were impressive, with Louw scrummaging like an angry bull and making some nice rumbles up the pitch, scoring 9. Grobbelaar had a solid all-round shift, doing well to get the lineout functioning in the conditions, scoring 8. Steenekamp formed a nice axis with Louw in the scrum, working in tandem to demolish the Stormers, scoring 8. The replacements, including Ruan Vermaak and Mpilo Gumede, upped the physicality and brute force of the Bulls pack, but couldn't quite match the intensity of the starting unit.

The Bulls' bench is becoming a hot topic in South African rugby, and while they couldn't channel the famed Boks bomb squad, they did put in a decent performance. Akker van der Merwe, Jan Hendrik Wessels, and Francois Klopper had the task of replacing the starting front row, and while they were tidy, they couldn't quite match the intensity. In the backs, Zak Burger was fine without being spectacular, and Keagan Johannes injected a new dynamic late on. The Bulls will be looking to use their powerful pack to dominate proceedings and do the double over their arch-rivals, with team selection and tactics playing a crucial role in the outcome.

Here are the match scores:

• Bulls: 16
• Stormers: 19

And here are the player statistics:

• Wilco Louw: 9/10
• Johan Grobbelaar: 8/10
• Gerhard Steenekamp: 8/10
• Nizaam Carr: 7/10
• Reinhardt Ludwig: 6/10

The Bulls will be looking to bounce back from this defeat and make a strong push for the top of the United Rugby Championship table.

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