David Kriel has played over 100 games for the Bulls across competitions, where he has featured at fullback, wing and centre.
But now there’s another party trick to the Kriel make-up: clutch goal-kicker.
The 25-year-old – who was born in Potchefstroom and attended Grey College in Bloemfontein – was the hero for the Pretoria side when he slotted a late conversion of Akker van der Merwe’s maul try to clinch a 17-15 victory over Benetton in Treviso on Friday night.
Kriel has a wide variety of skills, but wasn’t recognised as a goal-kicker until recently, when he started helping out in that regard.
But a strange set of circumstances led to him having to haul out his kicking tee at the Stadio Monigo, after Boeta Chamberlain was ruled out with illness and stand-in flyhalf Keagan Johannes was replaced in the second half.
With the Bulls trailing 15-10, Kriel first produced a superb touch-finder from a penalty just inside the Benetton half that went out six metres from the tryline.
Then, after Van der Merwe dotted down from the driving maul to level the scores at 15-15, Kriel took his time – with referee Eoghan Cross adding to the pressure by saying “20 seconds” left on the shot clock – and with a rhythmical swing of his right boot, sent the ball through the uprights.
David Kriel comes in clutch for the Vodacom Bulls in the closing moments of the game 👇
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 25, 2024
📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/L6UzclY01l
“I can’t praise David enough. He plays 10, 12, 13, 14 and he’s played 15 for us in big games, and he’s kicked goals for us when he’s needed to,” Bulls coach Jake White said.
“Tonight’s probably the biggest goal that he’s kicked for us to win the game. So, he’s growing as a player.
“You guys call Jan-Hendrik a Swiss knife: he (Kriel) is probably a leatherman. I’m happy for him, because he’s worked so hard at his game... For him to kick that winning kick for us, in the fourth year of his time at the Bulls, is obviously going to make him such a better player.
“It was nearly happening tonight (that Kriel would start at flyhalf) – it was one of the debates I had with the coaches.
“I thought maybe what we could do is to just start him at 10 and put Harold (Vorster) at 12, because we thought the rain was going to come earlier.
“For us to put him at 10, we wouldn’t be worried about it because he has the skills and understanding of rugby.
“In fact, I actually said to him, ‘You need to talk more, more than you’ve ever spoken, because Keagan’s going to need to hear your voice all the time’.
“Between him and Canan (Moodie), they were very vocal on trying to help Keagan because you can imagine – you lose your quarterback (Chamberlain), and you don’t lose him at the beginning of the week, but literally three hours before kick-off.
“It can put a lot of pressure on a young guy. So, I’m even happy for Keagan as well, because other than the missed goal-kick, I thought he was really solid.”
The Bulls’ sheer tenacity pulled them through a difficult night, where little went right for them in slippery conditions, and it was a fine end to their three-match tour after the 23-22 loss to the Scarlets last week.
“It was tough, but sometimes you’ve got to win ugly. I just think that they don’t allow you to play much. You saw what happened with the Sharks (who lost 38-10 to Benetton recently).
“They are a really good defensive team and have a lot of internationals in their team.
“It is very pleasing as we were staring down the barrel for most of that game, and then we found a way to win. You speak about sporting teams around the world, and when you can find a way to win a game like that, you can only be proud of the players.”
Points-Scorers
Bulls 17 – Tries: Reinhardt Ludwig, Akker van der Merwe. Conversions: David Kriel (2). Penalty: Keagan Johannes (1).
Benetton 15 – Penalties: Tomas Albornoz (4), Rhyno Smith (1).