Bulls bulldoze Stade Francais for Challenge Cup spot

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls recorded their first Champions Cup win of the season, beating Stade Francais 48-7 in the Round Four clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Following a troubling Champions Cup campaign, the Bulls headed into the fixtures with a couple of non-negotiables for a spot in the Challenge Cup.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!

They needed a bonus point win, a winning margin of 22 points,  to prevent Stade Francais from bagging a bonus point; and end the losing streak.

And they did all of those in front of more than 10,000 spectators.

The Bulls side, stacked with the Springboks, scored six tries and was awarded a penalty try.

While Stade Francais could only score one try.

There will be some concerns, as Johan Goosen left the field prematurely with what appears to be a knee injury.

From the kick-off the Bulls showed real intent and after just five minutes looked set to score.

However, their efforts were halted by a deliberate knockdown from Louis Carbonel. The officials spotted the foul and handed Carbonel a yellow card and awarded a penalty try to the Bulls.

Stade Francais looked set to retaliate, but Sergeal Petersen made an incredible run on the wing before his grubber bounced favourably for Devon Williams, who dived over for the try.

Johan Goosen added the conversion for the 14-0 lead.

The French found it very difficult to combat the Bulls’ high-pace attack, from a quick tap Embose Papier beat two defenders before scoring his side’s third try.

The visitors finally broke the deadlock, and after a few phases inside the Bulls’ five, Sekou Macalou powered over from close range. Louis Carbonel made no mistake in adding the easy conversion.

Bulls hit back immediately, an offload by Cameron Hanekom found Ruan Vermaak, who went over in the corner.

With Goosen leaving the field with a knee injury, Boeta Chamberlain stepped up for the kick. However, he pushed his kick wide, 26-7.

The former Sharks flyhalf had a chance to redeem himself, which he took with both hands as he kicked over a penalty for the 29-7 lead.

On the brink of the break, the Bulls had a scrum inside Stade Francais’ five and after a massive scrum, Elrich Louw powered over. Chamberlain added the extras to extend the lead.

There was still time for a last-minute effort from Stade Francais. From a line-out, they tried to set up a driving maul but were halted by a solid Bulls team, who took a 36-7 lead at the break.

It was more Bulls dominance in the second half. Stedman Gans made an incredible intercept before handing it to Chamberlain, who finished off the five-pointer.

Soon 43-7 was 48-7 as relentless work kept the Stade Francais on the backfoot before Hanekom bulldozed over.

They lost a bit of accuracy in the last 20 minutes, but the French could not capitalize as they also struggled in the humid conditions.

In the en,d the Bulls did enough to book a spot in the Challenge Cup.

Man of the match: There were a lot of standouts in the Bulls set-up. Devon Williams and Sergeal Peterson were a handful outwide, while Embrose Papier dictated proceedings from the nine. Elrigh Louw was a workhorse, however, our nod goes to Cameron Hanekom. The No.8 made the most carries and tackles, he also scored a try.

The scorers:

For Bulls:
Tries: Penalty try, Williams, Papier, Vermaak, Louw, Chamberlain, Hanekom
Cons: Goosen 2, Chamberlain 2
Pen: Chamberlain

For Stade Francais
Try: Macalou,
Con: Carbonel

Yellow card: Louis Carbonel (Stade Francais, 5 – clear and deliberate knock-on)

Teams

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (captain), 6 Marcelle Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Canan Moodie

Stade Francais: 15 Joe Jonas, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Leo Monin, 12 Julien Delbouis, 11 Charles Laloi, 10 Louis Carbonel, 9 Thibaut Motassi, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Sekou Macalou (captain), 6 Pierre Huguet, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Juan-Martin Scelzo, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Alvaro Garcia Albo, 1 Isaac Koffi
Replacements: 16 Luka Petriashvili, 17 Hugo N’Diaye, 18 Braxton Asi, 19 Ollie McCrea, 20 Andy Timo, 21 Mamoudou Meite, 22 Louis Foursans-Bourdette, 23 Mathis Ibo

Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce, Hamish Grant
TMO: Stuart Terheege