Bulls see off plucky Edinburgh to book home semi with either Sharks or Munster

The 42

a day ago

Bulls 42
Edinburgh 33
THE VODACOM BULLS recovered from an early deficit to beat Edinburgh in an 11-try thriller at Loftus Versfeld Stadium and book a home URC semi-final against either the Sharks or Munster next Saturday.
The Bulls twice trailed by two scores in the first half, with Wes Goosen and a Ross Thompson double — initially answered only by a close-range Cameron Hanekom try — putting Edinburgh in the ascendancy on the half-hour mark.
Edinburgh's first two tries came with the Bulls down to 14, Sebastian de Klerk sin-binned for a high shot on Darcy Graham.
But with Willie Le Roux instrumental and their scrum mostly dominant, the hosts fought back from 21-8 down to move within striking distance at the break.
David Kriel firstly capitalised on a poor Edinburgh kick chase to dive over just after the half-hour mark, with Harold Vorster crossing in the left-hand corner soon afterwards after a wonderful chip and chase in transition by De Klerk, who was fresh out of the bin.
However, the profligacy of Keagan Johannes and Kriel from the tee meant that Edinburgh's led by three, 21-18, at the end of a frenetic first half.
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The Bulls, however, scored three tries in the first 11 minutes of the second period to pull away from the seemingly exhausted Scots in Pretoria.
Canan Moodie's try, supplied by the imperious Le Roux and converted by Johannes, was followed quickly by a wonderful solo score by Johannes himself. The scrum-half-turned-10 added the extras once more for 32-21.
A powerful Wilco Louw carry then opened a gap for Bulls skipper Ruan Nortje to dot down on 51 minutes, with Johannes having well and truly found his groove on conversion duty.
In a flash, the Bulls led by 18 and Edinburgh's goose was all but cooked.
The Scots found a second wind late in the third quarter, however, with Ewan Ashman crossing from close range and JF van Heerden receiving 10 minutes on the naughty step for the Bulls' repeated infringements in the build-up.
On the hosts' restart, however, the otherwise excellent Magnus Bradbury dropped the ball cold, and Ross Thompson soon followed Van Heerden to the sin bin as he deliberately knocked on a Bulls pass near the line with Edinburgh's defence in shambles.
The hosts took their easy three points through Johannes to extend their lead to 14, but Darcy Graham then initiated a wonderful team score by Edinburgh — eventually finished by Wes Goosen but left unconverted — to leave the scoreline at 42-33 with 17 minutes remaining.
The visitors tried in vain to reduce the deficit further, the Bulls earning key turnovers on the ground to thwart glimmers of Scottish momentum and manage their way to victory.
Jake White's second seeds will host either South African rivals the Sharks or Munster at Loftus next Saturday.
Bulls: Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Sebastian De Klerk, Keagan Johannes, Embrose Papier, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw, Cobus Wiese, J F Van Heerden, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Nortje (CAPT), Cameron Hanekom
Replacements: Akker Van der Merwe, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Jannes Kirsten, Marco Van Staden, Zak Burger, Stedman Gans, Devon Williams
Edinburgh: Wes Goosen, Darcy Graham, Matt Currie, James Lang, Harry Paterson, Ross Thompson, Ali Price, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D'arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Sam Skinner, Ben Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury (CAPT)
Replacements: Paddy Harrison, Boan Venter, Javan Sebastian, Liam McConnell, Ben Muncaster, Conor McAlpine, Ben Healy, Mark Bennett
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)