PRETORIA – The Bulls got their Champions Cup season off to a flying start on Saturday, 1 October, securing an emphatic 56-20 win over Stade Français at Loftus Versfeld.

Johan Ackermann’s charges showed their willingness to run and attack space as they scored eight tries, despite some lineout malfunctions throughout the match.

The Bulls could not have asked for a better opening. After kicking off, they won the ball back and sent it wide. Centre Harold Vorster kicked a perfectly weighted grubber behind the Stade Français defence, and Cheswill Jooste’s pace did the rest as he beat the defenders to a bouncing ball in the in-goal area to score a converted try just 25 seconds into the match.

Stade Français pulled a penalty back through Ihaia West in the 10th minute to cut the deficit to 7-3, but the Bulls extended their lead in the 17th minute following poor decision-making by the visitors. After the Bulls messed up an attacking lineout in the visitors’ 22, the French side opted to attack from deep. The Bulls turned the ball over, resulting in Cobus Wiese crashing over the line for a converted try and a 14-3 lead.

The Bulls thought they had a third try just before half-time when Elrigh Louw went over, but the TMO ruled the grounding was held up. However, Stade Français made another error by kicking the resulting drop-out out on the full. The Bulls won a penalty from the resulting scrum, which Cameron Hanekom took quickly before forcing his way over to give the home side a 21-6 lead at half-time.

Stade Français made the perfect start to the second half when they scored through Jacques Botha in the 44th minute to cut the Bulls’ lead to 21-13. The Bulls responded when they set up an attacking lineout, extending their lead to 28-13 thanks to a perfectly executed maul and a try for Marco van Staden.

Stade Français hit back through Petero Mailulu to cut the Bulls’ lead to 28-20 in the 58th minute, but Jeandre Rudolph then produced a moment of brilliance to halt the visitors’ momentum. He collected the ball near the touchline before chipping ahead, kicking it again and then gathering it to score a brilliant individual try. Handre Pollard converted to push the Bulls’ lead out to 35-20 in the 63rd minute.

Another try arrived in the 69th minute, with Jan-Hendrik Wessels doing brilliantly to collect Willie le Roux’s cross-kick and score to make it 42-20.

To round things off, the Bulls added two more tries through Jooste, who completed his hat-trick in the final stages.

Before kick-off, a moment of silence was observed for Lions player Hyron Andrews, who passed away in France on Friday.

Scorers

Bulls 56 (21) – Tries: Cheswill Jooste (3), Cobus Wiese, Cameron Hanekom, Marco van Staden, Jeandre Rudolph, Jan-Hendrik Wessels; Conversions: Handre Pollard (8)

Stade Français 20 (6) – Tries: Jacques Botha, Petero Mailulu; Conversions: Louis Foursans-Bourdette (2); Penalties: Ihaia West, Louis Foursans-Bourdette

Source: KickOff

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