By Ken Borland
PRETORIA, South Africa, April 7 (Reuters) – The Canterbury
Crusaders wasted the early advantage and were then accused of
two counts of eye-gouging by the Northern Bulls as the New
Zealanders were beaten 32-30 by the South African team in their
SuperRugby match on Saturday.
Referee Jaco Peyper issued white cards for further
consideration of television evidence by the citing commissioner
after Bulls hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and captain Pierre Spies
accused the Crusaders of eye-gouging them in the ruck.
The Bulls won penalties for other ruck offences at the same
time, with flyhalf Morne Steyn kicking both to bring the home
side to within a point of the Crusaders at 13-12.
The Bulls then surged into the lead in the 44th minute when
loosehead prop Dean Greyling threw an outrageous dummy before
charging to the try-line.
Steyn converted to give the three-times champions a 19-13
lead.
Replacement centre Tom Taylor and Steyn exchanged penalties
before the Bulls opened up a 32-16 lead with nine minutes
remaining thanks to another penalty by Steyn and a try by centre
Wynand Olivier, who was able to dot down the bouncing ball in
the in-goal area .
The desperate Crusaders held sway in the last seven minutes
as wing Sean Maitland’s weaving run pulled apart the Bulls’
defence and his fellow wing Zac Guildford showed good hands to
take the try-scoring pass. Dan Carter’s conversion closed the
gap to 23-32.
Replacement fullback Tom Marshall burst through to score and
Carter converted but was left to rue his 64th-minute penalty
miss from the middle of the field.
The Bulls defended stoutly in the closing moments to hold
off the seven-time champions and record their fourth victory in
six games, moving to fourth on the overall standings.
The Crusaders’ losing bonus point takes them to seventh
overall.
(Editing by Dave Thompson; To comment on this story email
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