Mont de Marsan, July 21: Not everything is black or white

French audiences sometimes - and today was an example - react to what goes on in the bullring as if everything is black or white. A matador gives up on a bull and receives a bronca. A bull is applauded en arrastre because its matador has done well with it. But things aren’t as straightforward as that - there’s a lot of grey in bullfighting.

Indeed, today’s grey matador was Juan Ortega, seemingly set in that mould of showing the occasional promise, but rarely fully delivering. The promise was apparent in his initial slow quite of verónicas to Morante’s first bull. The verónicas excelled once more on his own first bull, but, just as he began to get into the flow of his faena, he lost the cloth and had to start all over again. Thereafter, there were some pretty, but also not-so-pretty, passes given all over the ring (dominio does not appear to be his thing). The kill, though, was spectacular, slow and to the hilt and merited the applause that came as the faena ended.

With his second animal, there were some more impressive verónicas to the left horn, but Ortega couldn’t cope with the bull on its right. The sevillano began the faena tentatively, although it eventually came good, Ortega’s temple and stylish approach once more on exquisite display. But three pinchazos and a descabello lost the torero any prospect of an ear, leaving him once again in the shadows.

Morante de la Puebla was unjustly whistled from the ring after he had called a halt to the faena of his third Hermanos García Jiménez bull, and again at the corrida’s end. His second bull had been devuelto after falling en varas, its replacement protested for its novillo-like appearance on its entry to the plaza. But this was not the Morante of old, the faena, to an animal that had clearly looked unpromising in the first two tercios, containing some fine muletazos until Morante decided it was time to simply tire the bull’s head for the kill. The swordsmanship was old-style Morante, though - three pinchazos running round the horn and an ungainly stab from the side.

Morante treated us to a lot of largas, some verónicas and a media verónica to his first bull, before leaving the encounter smiling. The faena was interrupted early on when the sevillano decided his muleta needed to be heavier to cope with the afternoon breeze, but thereafter we were given a decent display of close and stylish passes. Two pinchazos and a descabello saw Morante’s work end in silence. But there had been real effort behind all of José Antonio’s toreo today and the closing bronca was undeserved.

As has become the norm for his appearances this season, Tomás Rufo ended up triunfador de la tarde, but only because of the amount of work he was prepared to put in to the lidia of his second bull. Earlier, the lack of a brindis on his first, wayward, animal spoke volumes. Rufo nevertheless achieved some good passes on the right hand and on the left after an initial desarme. The bull was better on its right horn and Tomás dispensed with the ayuda for some fine naturales with the right hand before taking saludos after a bajonazo kill.

By the time the last bull came into the ring, the festejo needed livening up, and this Tomás did with a larga cambiada de rodillas, feet-together verónicas and a larga. The youngster had the good taste to set the bull at a distance for its second vara, which pleased the crowd further, and then dedicated to the public before getting down on his knees for opening derechazos. On his feet, the curvature and length of his passes were noticeable and there was a lovely sequence of three derechazos given in one continuous circular movement before the bull tired, its charges shortening. Rufo continued with the faena but sensibly interspersed tandas with lengthy pauses to rest his opponent. He closed with de frente naturales and pases ayudados before ending with a crosswise sword hasta la bola and winning the afternoon’s only ear.

In contrast to its predecessors, all whistled from the ring, the last bull went out to applause, but its performance en varas had been created by its matador and so too its nursing through much of the faena. Today’s string of Hermanos García Jiménez bulls had been truly dreadful and this festejo was not one for the history books.