Bulls' second half blitz buries Edinburgh 

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls booked their United Rugby Championship semifinal spot by defeating a determined Edinburgh outfit by 42-33 at Loftus Versveld.

It was a nervy first half for the 20056 strong in attendance as Edinburgh scored two quickfire tries to take a 14-3 lead in the opening quarter.

The visitors held a three-point lead at half-time before the Bulls showed their class in the second stanza.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!

The Bulls showed their attacking intent from the outset before play was stopped as Darcy Graham went down in a heap.

Referee Adam Jones consulted his TMO and it was ruled that Sebastian de Klerk made a late shoulder charge to the face of Graham after the Edinburgh wing chipped the ball ahead.

De Klerk was yellow-carded for his indiscretion in the third minute.

Edinburgh entered the Bulls’ territory and started their attack as the Bulls missed their one-on-one tackles.

Edinburgh worked the ball wide to Wes Goosen who dotted down in the fifth minute to open the visitor’s account. Ross Thompson slotted the conversion.

The Scottish outfit attacked from deep inside their own 22-metre area and came close to scoring again before being penalised for holding on. A second penalty followed for making contact in the air.

Keagan Johannes stepped up for the penalty kick to open the Bulls’ account in the 10th minute.

Willie le Roux kicked the ball out on the full following a strong carry by Cameron Hanekom. The Bulls conceded a penalty at the breakdown after the line-out and Edinburgh opted for the corner.

The visitors’ attack paid off yet again when Ali Price found his halfback partner Ross Thompson who crashed over for Edinburgh’s second try in the 14th minute which he converted himself.

The Bulls attacked strongly after Edinburgh’s score and received a penalty for offside. The hosts opted for the corner.

Edinburgh sacked the Bulls maul successfully but No.8 Cameron Hanekom picked the ball up and powered his way over the line in the 18th minute to score the Bulls’ first try. Johannes sliced the conversion to the left.

A scuffle broke out inside the Edinburgh half and Jamie Richie got penalised for retaliation. The Bulls opted for an attacking line-out inside Edinburgh’s 22-metre area but Edinburgh turned the ball over to save the day.

The Bulls lost the ball in contact on attack and Magnus Bradbury scooped it up. Edinburgh worked the ball wide to Wes Goosen who chipped it forward but the ball went dead into touch-in-goal as they came back for a scrum just inside the Bulls’ half.

The hosts appeared to dominate the contest but Edinburgh won the scrum penalty that gave the visitors a line-out seven metres from the Bulls’ line.

Edinburgh attacked strongly, and Ross Thompson dotted down for a brace in the 29th minute which he converted himself.

The Bulls struck back after a poor kick by Ali Price was tapped back by Jan Hendrik Wessels. Embrose Papier put Willie Le Roux in a gap and got his pass away to David Kriel to dot down for the Bulls’ second try in the 32nd minute. Johannes missed the conversion.

Embrose Papier squandered a clear try-scoring opportunity after David Kriel got a beautiful wide pass away to Canan Moodie to open up space. Papier knocked the ball on with a back tackle halting his momentum.

The try eventually came when the hosts went wide off a clearance kick by Edinburgh and Sebastian de Klerk chipped and chased his own kick and regathered to score in the 37th minute. David Kriel sliced the conversion.

Edinburgh had one final attacking opportunity before half-time with a scrum feed outside the Bulls’ 22-metre area, but the Bulls piled the pressure on and won the penalty.

The hosts kicked for the attacking line-out after the half-time hooter sounded and launched another attack but the ball got stripped in the tackle by James Lang as Wes Goosen kicked the ball into touch for oranges.

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An early knock-on in the second half followed by a scrum penalty gave the Bulls an attacking opportunity outside Edinburgh’s 22-metre area. The Bulls kept matters tight before going wide and Willie le Roux put Canan Moodie into space for the try in the 43rd minute which Johannes converted.

The Bulls went back-to-back after a comedy of errors by both sides. Keagan Johannes exploited a gap and sliced Edinburgh open to dot down for the host’s fifth try of the afternoon in the 47th minute. Johannes converted his try to edge out an 11-point lead.

A ball knocked on by Edinburgh saw Embrose Papier nail a 50/22 kick and provide the Bulls another attacking line-out.

The Bulls received a penalty for offside against D’Arcy Rae and went for the corner.

Edinburgh sacked the maul but Bulls captain Ruan Nortje dotted down in the 51st minute and suddenly Edinburgh were left with a mountain to climb. Johannes converted the score.

Edinburgh won a scrum penalty after their front row reinforcements came on. The visitors opted for the line-out 10 metres from the Bulls’ line.

The visitors received another penalty for offside as Edinburgh went quickly through Boan Venter and conceded another penalty.

The Bulls were warned by the referee for the recurring penalties in the red zone.

Edinburgh took the quick tap penalty and the referee’s arm went out again for offside. Edinburgh got their reward when Ewan Ashman bashed over for the try in the 58th minute.

JF van Heerden got yellow-carded moments later for the team warning.

The Bulls almost hit straight back after Edinburgh failed to claim the restart. Ross Thompson was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on in the 60th minute.

Keagan Johannes extended the Bulls’ lead with a penalty in the 61st minute.

Edinburgh hit straight back with an attack from their 22-metre area. The ball went through multiple hands before Wes Goosen dotted down for a brace in the 63rd minute.

A penalty for holding on gave Edinburgh an attacking line-out inside the Bulls’ 22-metre area. They formed a maul but Akker van Der Merwe came through the middle and won the turnover for his side.

The Bulls won a penalty for holding on after Edinburgh desperately tried to attack from inside their in-goal area which effectively sealed the deal with a minute and a half left.

They went for the corner and Edinburgh won a penalty for holding on. They opted to play from deep once again but it was too little too late when Healy chipped the ball over the top and Sebastian de Klerk gathered and kicked the ball into touch to send his side into the semifinals.

Scorers:

For the Bulls:
Tries: Hanekom, Kriel, De Klerk, Moodie, Johannes, Nortje
Cons: Johannes 3, Kriel
Pens: Johannes 2

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Goosen 2, Thompson 2, Ashman
Cons: Thompson 4

Yellow card: Sebastian De Klerk (Bulls: Dangerous shoulder charge), JF van Heerden (Bulls: Repeated infringements), Ross Thompson (Edinburgh: Cynical – deliberate knock-on)

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian De Klerk, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Ruan Nortje (c), 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Devon Williams

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Harry Paterson, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Liam McConnell, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Peter Martin (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)