Edinburgh beat Bulls but pay price with injury to Scotland star

Edinburgh held on against a late Bulls rally to pick up their second win of the United Rugby Championship at the DAM Health Stadium, winning 17-10.

It was a grim tussle but both teams showed plenty of character to make it a compelling contest.

Edinburgh snatched a seventh-minute lead when the first slick passage of play in the match led to Damien Hoyland setting up a Henry Immelman try with a well-weighted grubber.

The Bulls pulled three points back when Chris Smith bisected the posts after Stuart McInally was penalised for holding onto the ball on the deck.

Jaco Van Der Walt had missed the tricky conversion of Immelman’s early try, but he was on the money with three penalties in quick succession to make it 14-3 to the hosts at the break.

However, the Edinburgh number 10 then picked up a painful-looking shoulder injury whilst making a tackle during the last play of the first half and had to be replaced by James Johnstone, with James Lang moving inwards from centre to the stand-off slot.

Edinburgh twice had the Bulls in bother early in the second period, first after a searching kick from Mark Bennett, and then after a scything break from Johnstone, but could not make it count on the scoreboard.

A powerful Edinburgh scrum, immediately after the introduction of WP Nel at tight-head prop, earned a penalty for the home side, but Lang hit the post with his shot at goal.

With 10 minutes to go, Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee muscled in for the try, and Morne Steyn’s conversion made it 14-10, which was just a bit too close for comfort for the hosts.

But they showed good composure to get back in the strike zone and then earn a ruck penalty.

With Lang now off injured as well, Bennett stepped forward to take the shot at goal and made no mistake.

It looked like Madosh Tambwe had scored a try which would have set up a conversion to square it with five minutes to play, but referee Ben Whitehouse chalked it off for a double movement after a trip to the TMO.