Bulls fall agonisingly short in thriller against Lyon

The Bulls will be kicking themselves after they went down 28-29 to Lyon in a Champions Cup Round Two encounter in France on Saturday.

The home side outscored the visitors by five tries to three in a thrilling match at the Stade de Gerland.

However, it was the Bulls who were six points in front after a great first-half display.

After a see=saw battle for most of the second half, there was late drama when the Bulls thought they deserved a penalty at a ruck after the full-time hooter sounded. However, the match officials believed Lyon did nothing wrong when they knocked the ball loose from a Bulls player’s hands.

Replacement flyhalf Jaco van der Walt also missed a penalty kick with five minutes left on the clock.

It was a fantastic start for the Bulls with Jan-Hendrik Wessels charging down a Thaakir Abrahams kick before scrumhalf Zak Burger snatched up the loose ball to run in for the first try in the second minute.

The Bulls continued to apply the pressure with some great variation on attack and a great kicking game and they extended their lead in the 12th minute with a Chris Smith penalty.

Lyon were nearly scored in the 17th minute after sustained pressure, but big lock Romain Taofifenua was held up over the tryline.

The home side eventually got their first points of the game in the 23rd minute after Fletcher Smith found Ethan Dumortier with a neat crosskick and the wing had an easy run for his team’s first try.

However, it didn’t take long for the Bulls to hit back with Mpilo Gumede showing great skill to get a pass away to Sergeal Petersen, who ran in for his team’s second try. Chris Smith surprisingly missed the conversion.

The Bulls flyhalf had another crack at the poles a few minutes later and this time he extended his team’s lead to 11 points.

It was the home side that had the final say in the first half with flank Pierre-Samuel Pacheco going over the corner after some enterprising rugby from his backs.

Page-Relo could not add the extras and at half-time, it was 18-12 to the Bulls.

The Bulls opened the scoring in the second half with another Smith penalty in the 43rd minute after a high tackle on Harold Vorster denied the visitors a scoring opportunity.

The away side’s lead was then reduced significantly in the 46th minute and it all started with some magic from Abrahams.

The fullback weaved his way through the Bulls’ defence and with the Pretoria team in pieces, the ball went wide to Alfred Parisien, who ran in for his team’s second try.

Lyon then took the lead in the 62nd minute when a well-worked line-out move sent replacement hooker Yanis Charcosset sprinting down the touchline to score his team’s fourth try of the match.

Paddy Jackson added the extra two points to give his team a 24-21 lead.

That lead didn’t last long as Springbok flank Marco van Staden crashed over from close range for the Bulls in the 68th minute. Smith nailed a difficult conversion to give his team a four-point lead.

However, the Bulls’ defence let them down shortly after that with Charcosset sprinting through before the ball went wide to Thibaut Regard who had enough space to score in the corner.

Jackson could not find the direction with his conversion.

Replacement flyhalf Van der Walt had an opportunity to put his team in front in the 75th minute but he pushed his penalty kick wide.

The Bulls applied plenty of pressure in the final minutes and they thought they should have been awarded a late penalty at a breakdown. However, the match officials ruled in favour of Lyon and the French side walked away with the five pool points

Man of the match: Lyon replacement hooker Yanis Charcosset was a standout in the second half and he played a big role in his team’s win. Bulls scrumhalf Zak Burger had a great all-round game. However, the award goes to Bulls lock Janko Swanepoel who was immense in the physical exchanges once again.

Man of the match: Lyon replacement hooker Yanis Charcosset was a standout in the second half and he played a big role in his team’s win. Bulls scrumhalf Zak Burger had a great all-round game. However, the award goes to Bulls lock Janko Swanepoel who was immense in the physical exchanges once again.

The scorers:

For Lyon:

Tries: Dumortier, Pacheco, Parisien, Charcosset, Regard

Cons: Page-Relo, Jackson

For Bulls:

Tries: Burger, Petersen, Van Staden

Cons: Smith 2

Pens: Smith 3

Teams:

Lyon: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Ethan Dumortier, 13 Alfred Parisien, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Fletcher Smith, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Pierre-Samuel Pacheco, 6 Marvin Okuya, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Killian Geraci, 3 Feao Fotuaika, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Sébastien Taofifenua.

Replacements: 16 Yanis Charcosset, 17 Jérôme Rey, 18 Valentin Simutoga, 19 Félix Lambey, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Thibaut Regard.

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Henry Immelman, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.

Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Merwe Olivier, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Sebastian de Klerk.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)