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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.
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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.
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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.
Match Summary 
0
Penalty Goals
3
5
Tries
3
2
Conversions
2
0
Drop Goals
0
128
Carries
172
8
Line Breaks
6
15
Turnovers Lost
10
4
Turnovers Won
5
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.
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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)
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments