Bulls enhance Champions Cup knockout hopes with win over Bristol

No Springbok players, no problem for the Bulls. 

They significantly enhanced their Champions Cup play-offs chances with a dominant 31-17 win over Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate on Saturday that came with a vital away bonus point. 

The Bulls secured this win through tries from Sergeal Petersen, Khutha Mchunu, Elrigh Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, but coach Jake White will be unhappy with discipline after Johan Goosen and Elrigh Louw spent some time in the sin bin. 

The two teams went into this match on similar records, with the Bulls having started the campaign with a win over Saracens and narrow defeat to Lyon, while Bristol beat Lyon and lost to Bordeaux-Begles. 

Bulls did not have too many problems, despite playing this match without Springboks Willie le Roux, Marco van Staden, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie, who stayed at home to be available for their final pool game against Bordeaux Bègles on Saturday at Loftus. 

White explained during the week that he decided to give Bok players their mandatory time off together so that they are available for the late stages of this tournament and the United Rugby Championship (URC). 

Johan Goosen put the Bulls ahead after six minutes from the kicking tee and the spotlight fell on him again a few minutes later when French referee Mathieu Raynal sent him to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on. 

Despite being a man down, the Bulls scored the first try through Petersen, who worked his magic past the Bristol defence before David Kriel stepped up to convert in the absence of yellow-carded Goosen after 16 minutes. 

Bristol responded swiftly with their first try after 20 minutes, scored by Kieran Marmion after he received an offload from James Williams, and AJ MacGinty did the rest with the conversion. 

Shortly after Marmion’s try, the Bulls went back to a full compliment of players with the return of Goosen from the sin bin. With him on the field, the visitors went to the break with a slender 10-7 lead. 

The hosts suffered a blow shortly after the restart when Raynal was forced to flash his yellow card for the second time. The offender this time was Max Lahiff, who was punished for an infringement under pressure at the scrum. 

Shortly before the hour mark, the Bulls increased their lead to 10 points when replacement prop Khutha Mchunu crossed over to register his first try for the Bulls in any competition. 

The Bulls then took the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring two tries in quick succession from Louw and Wessels as they began to dominate their hosts and took their lead to 24 points with 14 minutes remaining. 

The Bulls were forced to play the remaining eight minutes with a man down after Louw received their second yellow card and Bristol took advantage of their numerical advantage to score two late tries from Gabriel Ibitoye and Magnus Bradbury. But it was not enough as the Bulls made a strong statement without their Springbok contingent. 

Scorers    

Bristol Bears (7) 17 — Tries: Kieran Marmion, Gabriel Ibitoye, Magnus Bradbury; Conversions: AJ MacGinty (1); Penalties:  

Bulls (10) 31 — Tries: Sergeal Petersen, Khutha Mchunu, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels; Conversions: David Kriel (1), Johan Goosen (3); Penalties: Johan Goosen (1)