Bulls qualify for Champions Cup knockouts after nervy bonus-point ...

The Bulls held off a late Bordeaux-Begles surge to claim a 46-40 bonus-point win over the French side to qualify for the knockout stages of the Investec Champions Cup.

Jake White’s side will have to wait on the result between Saracens and Lyon to see if they will host a play-off game, with a win from the Premiership side the ideal outcome for the Bulls.

The hosts scored six tries through a Marcell Coetzee brace, Devon Williams, man-of-the-match David Kriel, Willie le Roux and Embrose Papier. Fly-half Johan Goosen kicked five conversions whilst his replacement Jaco van der Walt added two penalties to keep his side ahead.

Bordeaux managed to get closer than most would have expected thanks to Romain Buros, Adam Coleman, Madosh Tambwe, a Tevita Tatafu brace and Paul Abadie tries, with Zack Holmes kicking four conversions and Garcia Mateo slotting one.

Bulls skipper Coetzee started the game on a strong note, crossing after just six minutes before Goosen was on hand to add the extras. The visitors did not hang around, though, and ran in a try of their own seven minutes later through a converted Buros effort.

Typical to the clash the Bulls struck back through Williams who was played in by a lovely Goosen skip pass, and the fly-half was on hand to convert the try.

Scoring slowed down for a fair while as the teams dealt with the altitude before Coleman pulled it back a bit for his side in the 33rd minute with Holmes adding the additional points. However, the Bulls would have the last say of the half through Kriel who got a well-deserved try on the stroke of half-time.

The first score of the second period would always be vital and a lovely bit of continuity from the Bulls saw full-back Le Roux cross under the posts for a converted score. Former Bulls wing Tambwe had to get on the scoresheet and did so in the 49th minute.

Once again the hosts responded almost immediately as a broken defensive line left a wide open space for Papier, who capitalised well for a try converted by Goosen again. The scoring continued two minutes later as replacement Tatafu produced a brilliant solo run to score in the 54th minute. His teammate Abadie went over on the hour as the visitors looked dangerous.

???? A crazy solo effort. This game has had it all! #BULvUBB pic.twitter.com/tphPLxEdDW

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) January 20, 2024

With the scores tight, Van der Walt stepped up to kick his first penalty and provide a bit of daylight between the sides. That was quickly squashed by Tatafu’s second as it began to get nervy for the Bulls. However, the replacement fly-half for the hosts would kick the final points of the game in the 74th minute to power the Bulls to a win.

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Reinhardt Ludwig, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cornal Hendricks

Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Nicolas Depoortere, 12 Pablo Uberti, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Marko Gazzotti, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Clément Maynadier, 1 Jefferson Poirot (c)
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Ugo Boniface, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Alexandre Ricard, 20 Antoine Miquel, 21 Tevita Tatafu, 22 Théo Nanette, 23 Matéo Garcia

Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng)
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal (Eng), John Meredith (Eng)
TMO: Hamish Smales (Eng)

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