How on earth can Joubert see the Bulls collapsing the scrum when 9 times out of 10 he was not on the same side as where scrum went down? In addition he blew the Bulls backline to shreds for being offside even though the Reds who were lying very shallow throughout the match were not once penalized?  The Bulls did not even get a chance to play the ball out of the ruck before Joubert exhaled on his whistle all the while the Reds slowed down the ball repeatedly without any punishment.

But to be honest the reason for the loss cannot be entirely to blame for inconsistent reffing.  One would have to agree that the Bulls looked pretty exhausted during the match and even the much feared Bulls scrum machine were marched backwards by the Reds who have not a single international  cap amongst them!

Blowing hot and freezing the Bulls through away good ball and failed to play to their strengths and for a second time this year their kicking game went to pot. It is now apparent just how much the Bulls rely on Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn to be on top form because neither player looked like world beaters. Steyn’s form has dipped this season and he missed some shots at poles he normally would have got whereas Fourie was poor with his decision making and tactical kicking normally so reliable was all over the shop. And whose clever idea was it to play Kuun before Stegmann? For me Stegmann is a potential Bok and by rotating him with Kuun he is never going to get the chance to show his true potential.

I guess the Bulls will now have to return and hammer the Lions into submission to get their confidence back again because this was not the way they would have liked to end the tour. Yet 10 points from the visit to Australasia and still in a very good position on the log there will not be too much to worry about as the defending Champions return home.  The Bulls will gather soon at Fort Loftus and looking forward to running on South African soil again.