Former Bull ends White's Challenge Cup dreams
It was well and truly a match of two halves, with Edinburgh slipping a comfortable 17-point half-time lead only to scrape away with a six-point win at Edinburgh Stadium on Saturday.
A two-try blitz, including a penalty try, saw Edinburgh slip a comfortable lead to ensure a nervy final 30 minutes.
Edinburgh opened their account with a beautiful attacking move where James Lang put Ben Vellacott into space.
The scrumhalf returned the pass to his inside centre who ran in for the opening try in the fourth minute. Ross Thompson converted.
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A crazy passage of play saw Edinburgh slice the Bulls’ defence open, but a dropped ball led to Harold Vorster kicking the ball ahead as Sergeal Petersen gave chase. Then, David Kriel knocked the ball in the following play.
*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!
Referee Pierre Brousset consulted his Television Match Official to check for a deliberate knock-on, which was deemed to be cynical by Zak Burger as the scrumhalf got yellow-carded in the eighth minute.
Edinburgh tested the Bulls’ defensive efforts following the Burger yellow card, and Edinburgh scrumhalf Ben Vellacott thought he had grounded the ball on the line, but it was ruled that he was short as the Bulls temporarily survived the onslaught.
The hosts kept persisting with a ball-in-hand approach before Vellacott kicked the ball over the top, and Stravino Jacobs made the error of stepping into touch as he tried to keep the ball alive, gifting Edinburgh an attacking line-out.
Edinburgh had the Bulls scrambling on defence and earned themselves a penalty for offside.
They took the tap penalty, and it paid off when Magnus Bradbury dotted down in the 13th minute for Edinburgh’s second try of the afternoon. Thompson slotted the conversion.
A loose pass by Keagan Johannes that went behind his teammates was scooped up by Harold Vorster.
The centre sliced through the Edinburgh defence and got his inside pass away to David Kriel who dotted down for the Bulls’ first try as Johannes slotted the conversion in the 16th minute.
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Edinburgh got their groove going again after Devon Williams’s kick got charged down.
The home side mixed their skill and forward power to open gaps in the Bulls’ defence.
James Lang had lady luck on his side when he tried to grubber the ball through, and it bounced back into his hands as he went over for a brace in the 25th minute. Thompson added the extras.
The Bulls earned a penalty for not rolling away after the restart and set up a five-metre attacking line-out.
The visitors failed the test as the ball went loose from Jannes Kirsten, and Sam Skinner secured it for Edinburgh before it got cleared away to safety.
The Bulls earned a scrum penalty, and Devon Williams overcooked the kick, but Edinburgh let the ball bounce.
Zak Burger regained possession but was isolated and conceded the penalty for holding on at the breakdown as Edinburgh got out of jail.
Edinburgh earned a penalty as Ruan Nortje made contact with a player in the air at the line-out.
With two minutes and a bit of change, Ross Thompson stepped up to extend the hosts’ lead to 17 points in the 38th minute.
The Bulls had an attacking scrum on the stroke of half-time outside Edinburgh’s 22 metre area.
They were flat on attack, and Keagan Johannes’s forward pass called the end of the first half proceedings.
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Attack
The second half saw a change at flyhalf for the Bulls with Johan Goosen replacing Keagan Johannes at No.10.
A TMO check signalled potential foul play against Jannes Kirsten in the 41st minute.
Kirstin was yellow-carded for making indirect head contact as Edinburgh got a free exit with the penalty from their 22-metre area.
Edinburgh took full advantage of the extra player almost immediately as they started their attack when Ewan Ashman made a fantastic linebreak to get his side on the front foot.
The hosts went wide before Grant Gilchrist barged over for Edinburgh’s fourth try in the 42nd minute, which Thompson converted.
The Bulls earned a breakdown penalty in the 45th minute and went for the five-metre line-out.
The visitors set a powerful rolling maul, and Akker van der Merwe went over the Edinburgh try line, but the referee wanted to double check if he dotted it down successfully.
After a consultation with the TMO, it was ruled that wing Ross McCann collapsed the maul illegally through a side entry.
A penalty try was awarded to the Bulls as McCann was given a rest through a yellow card, making it a 14 v 14 contest.
Johan Goosen gave a perfect chip kick over the Edinburgh defensive line as Canan Moodie regathered possession before kicking a grubber onto the wing.
Edinburgh knocked the ball on as they scrambled to get possession back, and the Bulls earned an attacking scrum.
Stravino Jacobs ran over Darcy Graham to get the Bulls on the front foot before Zak Burger got his ball away to Cameron Hanekom, who dotted down as Johan Goosen converted to bring the margin down to 10 points in the 49th minute.
The Bulls found their mojo as moments later, they worked themselves within five metres of Edinburgh’s line, but a counter ruck initiated by scrumhalf Ali Price saw the Bulls concede the penalty for playing the ball on the ground.
A counter ruck by the Bulls saw them claim possession. They worked the ball wide to Moodie who chipped it ahead and put Edinburgh under pressure.
The hosts had no choice but to carry the ball into touch five metres from their own line.
Moments later, there was drama again when the TMO pointed Jannes Kirsten out again for dangerous play again.
It was deemed that there was enough mitigation for it to only be a penalty against the Bulls.
Another penalty to the hosts saw Thompson extend the lead to 13 points in the 59th minute.
The Bulls earned a scrum penalty on Edinburgh’s feed. Goosen nailed a perfect kick to set the five-metre attacking line-out.
The visitors missed a scoring opportunity as they were penalised for obstruction in the maul.
A knock-on by Pierre Schoeman gifted the Bulls another attacking scrum outside Edinburgh’s 22 metre area as Hanekom worked the visitors into Edinburgh’s red zone.
They came back for a scrum penalty, and the Bulls opted for the line-out again and opted to play Marco van Staden on a peel, but he found himself isolated and held up as Edinburgh earned the scrum feed.
With just over five minutes to go, the Bulls had another attacking scrum inside Edinburgh’s 22 metre area.
Reinhardt Ludwig went over the line but was held up, but they came back for an offside penalty against Edinburgh.
Marco van Staden took a quick tap penalty as the Bulls bashed away at Edinburgh’s line, and David Kriel barged over to bag a brace to ensure a grandstand finish as Goosen converted it to turn it into a six-point game with three minutes of play left.
The Bulls threw everything but the kitchen sink at Edinburgh and had a penalty with seconds remaining as Devon Williams found touch outside Edinburgh’s 22-metre area.
The Bulls formed the maul and made steady progress before launching their attack, but it was the former Bulls man Pierre Schoeman who went in over the ball at the breakdown to win the penalty and send Edinburgh into the Challenge Cup semifinals.
Match Summary
Scorers
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Lang 2, Bradbury, Gilchrist
Cons: Thompson 4
Pens: Thompson 2
For the Bulls:
Tries: Kriel 2, Hanekom, Penalty try does not require a conversion.
Cons: Johannes, Goosen 2
Yellow cards: Zak Burger (Bulls: Cynical – deliberate knock-on 8′), Jannes Kirsten (Bulls: Dangerous play – indirect head-on-head contact 41′)
Teams
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Ross McCann, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (co-captain), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (co-captain), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Marcus Rae, 19 Robert Carmichael, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cameron Scott, 23 Mosese Tuipulotu
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Nortje (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Canan Moodie.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Kevin Bralley (France)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
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