Desperate Bulls edge willing Lyon

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls were made to hang on desperately in the second half, as a willing Lyon threatened to spoil their Champions Cup debut party.

The Bulls eventually managed to eke out a 42-36 bonus-point win at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

However. for a long period in the second half it seems as if the French outfit, Lyon, will upset their hosts - despite trailing 0-28 at the end of the first quarter.

In the final tally, the Bulls outscored their opponents by six tries to five.

* To recap all the Loftus drama, CLICK HERE!

Bulls claimed victory on their debut in the competition thanks to tries from Sibongile Novuka, Bernard van der Linde (two), Nizaam Carr, Stravino Jacobs and Chris Smith.

Lyon battled back with scores from Arno Botha (two), Liam Coltman, Ethan Dumortier and Kyle Godwin.

Sibongile Novuka opened the scoring, breaching the Lyon defensive line as he spotted a thin gap to go under the poles. Morné Steyn stepped up to convert the kick.

The Bulls were on the scoreboard again as Nizaam Carr muscled his way through the French defense, falling short of the try line, but his work was good enough for scrumhalf, Bernard van der Linde to pick up and dot on the right edge of the poles. Steyn converted the second kick of the match and the hosts were in the lead 14-0 inside eight minutes.

The hosts came under a bit of pressure, as Noa Nakaitaci burst through to advance the Lyon attack but a last-ditch defending denied the French attack.

To counter the momentum of their guests, the hosts ran in their third try as Bernard van der Linde went over the white chalk for his second converted try of the match.

Lyon eventually got onto the board, successfully mauling over the line on the far end of the grandstand as Arno Botha powered over to get his side on the board. Leo Berdeu was on song to convert the try and the visiting Lyon were trailing by 21 points after 30 minutes of play.

Shortly before the break, Lyon found another try through what was an effective maul in the first stanza. This time, Liam Coltman went over the line but Leo Berdeu could not convert the tight angle and the two sides went into the break 28-12 in favour of the hosts.

Upon return for the second stanza, the Bulls carried on their incredible first-half showing and sent Stravino Jacobs over the chalk for the hosts’ bonus point try. Once again, Steyn was pin-point-accurate with the kick and the hosts went 35-12 after 42 minutes of play.

Lyon wouldn’t take that lying down, stitching together a brilliant counter-offensive move on the near end of the grandstand as speedster, Ethan Dumortier hurried over the line for a converted try. The visitors found another break and this time, it was Arno Botha who added the bonus point try for the French team.

The game became an 11-point match with 50 minutes played on the clock.

The after-effects of playing in the highveld were vividly becoming visible as both sides played at an exceptionally high tempo. However, the experience of the visitors proved vital as they dotted another converted try to set up an enthralling run to the end.

Six points separated the two sides with 18 minutes left on the board.

Under some consistent pressure from their visitors, the Bulls needed to build on their lead as the clock began to wind down and Outside half, Chris Barend Smith answered the call as he blitzed the Lyon defense - beginning with a dummy in midfield that created the gap before using his fresher legs and physicality to cut through the field and go over the line.

Steyn converted his sixth kick of the match, to stretch the lead to 13 with 13 minutes to play.

Lyon proved once again that they were not out of the game, as Kyle Godwin showed individual brilliance to go over the line for his side’s fifth of the match - leaving the game tantalisingly close at 42-36 with four minutes left to play.

The end of the match was nothing short of edge-of-your-seat drama as both sides engaged in a tug of war for a victory.

In the end, the Bulls had enough to defend their territory and registered a memorable 42-36 victory in Pretoria

The scorers

For the Bulls

Tries: Novuka, Van der Linde 2, Carr, Jacobs, Smith

Cons: Steyn 6

For Lyon

Tries: Botha 2, Coltman, Dumortier, Godwin

Cons: Berdeu 4

Pen: Berdeu

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Wandisile Simelane, 14 Sibongile Novuka, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Morné Steyn (captain), 9 Bernard van der Linde, 8 Muller Uys, 7 WJ Steenkamp, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Dylan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Phumzile Maqondwana, 21 Keegan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Juan Mostert.

Lyon: 15 Leo Berdeu, 14 Ethan Dumortier, 13 Tavite Veredamu, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Fletcher Smith, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain (captain), 8 Arno Botha, 7 Mickael Guillard, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Paulo Tafili, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Jérôme Rey

Replacements: 16 Guillaume Marchand, 17 Hamza Kaabèche, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Theo William, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Jonathan Pélissié, 22 Xavier Mignot, 23 Alexandre Tchaptchet

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Assistant referees: Sara Cox (England), Karl Dickson (England)

TMO: Ian Tempest (England)