CHALLENGE CUP REVIEW: Bulls last SA team standing after Bayonne win

The Vodacom Bulls fly the last remaining flag of South African teams in European competitions after a weekend where they stunned a partisan Basque crowd to beat Bayonne while the Emirates Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks fell by the wayside.

Jake White’s side will face Edinburgh in the early EPCR Challenge Cup quarterfinal on Saturday, and will come face to face with Sean Everitt, who until he left for Edinburgh was one of White’s assistants at the Bulls.

Everitt’s time at the Sharks as well will give him a clear idea of what to expect from the Bulls this weekend as he looks to take his team a step further in the Challenge Cup as well.

But in a weekend where the results were underwhelming, the Bulls at least showed a lot of fight in their ability not only to handle the hostile atmosphere in Bayonne, but also the challenge that the French side brought.

It was strange to say, but the Bulls kept their cool while Bayonne lost their heads at times, arguing almost every decision with the referee.

And the way the Bulls handled that was something that made White smile.

“The one thing I enjoyed the most is just how we handled the crowd. It’s a big learning curve for South African sides when they play in France,” White said afterwards.

“It’s unique, and especially this Basque region. It’s generally a very tough place to come and play good rugby. I really enjoyed the way we embraced the atmosphere and the way that we started.

WONDERFUL TRIES

“We scored some wonderful tries, and that is also very good for us because it’ll give us confidence. To get a result like that with the way we played is fantastic.

“I can’t underplay the fact that when you’ve come to this region of France, it's rugby country, and you can feel it. It’s an honour, and it’s important for our players too, because for a lot of them, this is the first time they’ve been to this part of the world.”

Knowing that they are the last remaining SA team standing creates a bit of a quandary for White, as he has two very important games in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship against Munster and Glasgow Warriors away from home after this, so player management will become an important factor this week for the side.

The stand-out players for the Bulls were captain Marcell Coetzee, who led from the front and was an easy man of the match candidate, while Akker van der Merwe and David Kriel both stood out as well.

Edinburgh scored three times in the first half in their Friday night win over the Lions, and while they failed to run away with the game, with the Lions doing better in the second half with the wind at their backs, it was still a comprehensive victory.

Scottish winger Darcy Graham was sensational as Edinburgh raced to a 17-0 lead before halftime, and set the platform for the win.

FOURTH LOSS IN A ROW FOR LIONS

The loss was the fourth in a row in all competitions for the Lions, who have been disappointed in the way they have fallen away in the second half of the season.

Coach Ivan van Rooyen was disappointed with the loss, which meant their three games in Europe gave them no joy and all ticked in the loss column.

“We are pretty disappointed with the loss and the two previous results. It’s three very different games in terms of weather and tests, so a lot to learn from the tour and a lot to improve,” said Van Rooyen.

“There was still some good character and fight. I think if I look at the second half against Glasgow, not conceding anything after being smashed in the first half, and again on Friday, we showed some good character and fight.

“However, that speaks to our start. We are pretty disappointed with our first 40 minutes in the last two games and just the consistency thereof. So it’s not an effort thing, it’s just the consistency.

SHARKS LOSS NO SURPRISE

The Sharks probably lost the game against Lyon before they got onto the plane, as they selected a second string outfit to travel, leaving almost all of their Galacticos at home and it wasn’t a surprise when the Durban team struggled to contain the power game of Lyon, who scored three first half tries to sew up the match early.

But the Sharks would not have been happy with their own defensive errors, which led to those tries, and contributed to their own downfall.

Assistant coach Joey Mongalo said afterwards the strong wind in the first half helped Lyon get on top.

“It gave them territory and possession. The first 10 minutes of the game showed the game we wanted to play and was well executed. I was very proud of the boys for getting together for three days and executing the plan so well. But then in the next 20 minutes we lost the territory battle and they got a lot of 22m entries and we could have been better defensively.

“If we had turned around one score less with the wind at our backs, we could have done a lot better. We had all the possession and territory the first 20 minutes of the second half and if we had finished one or two of those chances early we could have made a shout of it.”

Of the other results, Johann van Graan’s Bath were impressive in their away win against Pau, almost putting up 50 points while Connacht, Ospreys, Gloucester and Racing 92 all advanced.

RESULTS

Edinburgh 24 Emirates Lions 12

Section Paloise 24 Bath 49

Aviron Bayonnais 22 Vodacom Bulls 32

Montpellier 17 Gloucester 24

Perpignan 18 Racing 92 24

Connacht 35 Cardiff 20

Lyon 34 Sharks 21

Ospreys 36 Scarlets 14

QUARTER-FINALS

(Pool stage rankings in brackets)

Saturday 12 April

QF 3: Edinburgh Rugby (3) v Vodacom Bulls (11), Hive Stadium (1:30pm)

QF 4: Ospreys (4) v Lyon Olympique Universitaire (5), Swansea.com Stadium (6:30pm)

QF 1: Connacht Rugby (1) v Racing 92 (9), Dexcom Stadium (9pm)

Sunday 13 April

QF 2: Bath Rugby (10) v Gloucester Rugby (15), The Recreation Ground (6:30pm)

Semifinals – 2/3/4/ May

SF 1: winner QF 1 v winner QF 4

SF 2: winner QF 2 v winner QF 3

NB The matches will be played in Europe and the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home venue advantage

2025 EPCR Challenge Cup final: Friday 23 May; Principality Stadium, Cardiff.