Pollard injured as Ackers questions refereeing after Ulster scare

Flyhalf Handré Pollard became yet another Springbok to suffer an injury over the weekend, after the Bulls survived a scare against Ulster at Loftus.

The Pretoria union led 21-0 after half an hour, before errors let the Irish side back into the game.

Ulster, for their part, showed tremendous fight to take it to the wire, trailing by five points near the end.

But some late penalties went against them, and the Bulls slotted one on the hooter to secure a 34-26 bonus-point win.

Bulls lose Pollard

Bulls coach Johan Ackermann questioned referee Ru Campbell’s decisions after the Bulls were rewarded for scrum dominance only late in the game, and seemed to be penalised unfairly at the breakdown once.

“It’s the first game that we’ve had a fair bit of casualties. Probably the positive is that it’s not muscular or not long-term stuff,” he said, referring to Sango Xamlashe and Cheswill Jooste’s HIAs.

“Handré is the bigger one. It’s a hamstring. Time will tell how long that will be.”

The Bulls coach said he felt mixed emotions because, if he had been offered five points against Ulster before the game, he would have taken them without a doubt.

“You have to be grateful that you got the win. But… so many times with soft penalties, we either released the pressure on them, like letting them exit, or we put pressure on ourselves by letting them get an entry into our 22.

“We made it quite easy for them because at half-time I felt that we had them on the ropes.”

ALSO READ: Springbok loose forward Kwagga Smith joins the Bulls

‘I don’t know how many URC games this guy had’

Ackermann said he would ask the referees for some clarity around Campell’s decisions because “there were some big moments where I felt either we missed a scoring opportunity or that influence on possession or territory”.

“I don’t know how many URC games this guy had; maybe it was just the occasion. But there were moments that were a bit grey for me.

“Two or three times at breakdown, scrums, and early in the game where Elrigh [Louw] got penalised for cleaning a guy that tackled Cheswill, and Cheswill bounced up and went again. So, technically perfect, Cheswill released the ball, got up and went. But Elrigh got penalised.”

Still, Ackermann said the Bulls were not clinical for the full game and Ulster showed plenty of fight.