Vodacom Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar was among the standout performers in the Investec Champions Cup round of 16.
The Pretoria-based side lost 25-21 to the Glasgow Warriors in torrential conditions at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday night.
Grobbelaar put in a colossal 80-minute performance on Glasgow’s 4G pitch, making 25 tackles – the most in the last 16, and 15% of the Bulls’ total tackles (167). He also recorded four dominant tackle contacts – the most of any player in the knockout round.
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The 28-year-old scored a first-half try to give the Bulls a slender 8-7 lead.
In gusting and swirling wind, and in the face of unrelenting rain, Grobbelaar miscued an early lineout throw before finding his range.
The Bulls scrum was also dominant for most of the match, shoving the Glasgow pack backwards on several occasions.
The Bulls won nine lineouts and nine scrums, both with a 90% success rate – compared to 75% and 83% for Glasgow respectively.
PLAY: Investec Champions Cup game centre
Top performers (round of 16)
Points: Maxime Lucu (Bordeaux Bègles) – 18
Carries: Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux Bègles) – 22
Metres: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Bègles) – 175
Defender beaten: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Bègles) & Teddy Thomas (Toulouse) – 11
Clean breaks: Tommy O’Brien (Leinster) & Rieko Ioane (Leinster) – 4
Offloads: Damian Penaud (Bordeaux Bègles) – 6
Tackles: Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls) – 25
Key stats (round of 16)
– Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Salesi Rayasi (both Bordeaux Bègles) are tied as the competition’s top try scorers with seven each this season.
– George Furbank (Northampton Saints) was dominant in the latest round with 162m made (second most). He also scored a try and assisted another.
– Tommy O’Brien and Rieko Ioane (both Leinster) tied for most initial breaks in the latest round with four each.
– Johann Grobbelaar (Bulls) topped the latest round’s defensive statistics with 25 successful tackles and four dominant tackle contacts.
– Thomas Ramos (Toulouse) leads all players with 31 successful goal kicks and 67 total points in the competition.
Photo: Bryan Keane/INPHO