Saturday’s 30-23 United Rugby Championship quarterfinal win for the Bulls over Benetton came at a huge cost for the hosts, as they lost Springbok winger Kurt-Lee Arendse to a fractured cheekbone.
Arendse, who scored two of the Bulls’ three tries at Loftus Versfeld, had to leave the field after 29 minutes following a collision with Benetton’s Malakai Fekitoa.
Bulls coach Jake White said afterwards that Arendse’s season with the Bulls is probably over, but that emergency surgery would see the winger ready to play for the Boks in a couple of weeks.
As the Paarl-born flyer gave the Bulls the perfect start when he scooped up a chip-kick by Willie le Roux to dot down in the first minute of the clash.
After having a Onisi Ratave touchdown ruled out following Rhyno Smith penalty conversion, Benetton could only watch as Arendse scored his second try from the resulting penalty for offside after slick passing from a lineout move (14-3).
Ratave got his five-pointer in the end, rounding off a brilliant attack for the visitors to make it 14-8, before a Johan Goosen penalty gave the Bulls a nine-point buffer at the break.
A few more penalties made it 20-11, before Benetton flyhalf Tomas Albornoz slid his way past Bulls defenders for a converted try to set up a nervy finish for the Loftus faithful.
The visitors, though, fumbled the restart and the Bulls took full advantage as centre David Kriel scored. The Bulls repaid the favour in similar fashion from the next restart, with Fekitoa scoring in the righthand corner (27-23).
The Bulls would however close out the game in the final 10 minutes with Goosen slotting a third penalty to seal the win and book their place in this week’s semifinal against Leinster, who beat Ulster 43-20 in their quarters.
Bulls – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse (2) and David Kriel; Conversions: Johan Goosen (3); Penalties: Goosen (3).
Benetton – Tries: Onisi Ratave, Tomas Albornoz and Malakai Fekitoa; Conversion: Rhyno Smith; Penalties: Smith (2).