Bulls hold on to earn vital bonus-point win over Lyon at Loftus

The Bulls began their maiden Champions Cup campaign with a hard-fought 42-36 bonus-point win over stubborn French side Lyon but they made heavy weather of this match which could have been comfortably won.

The better side during the evening exchanges, the Bulls did not manage the game well and as a result failed to run away from their visitors who stayed in contention until the end.

In the end the Bulls prevailed in this action-packed match that produced 11 tries and went on for more than five minutes after the hooter with the sides only separated by six points.

The Bulls had a storming start to the match as they led 28-0 before the hour mark with four converted tries from Sibongile Novuka, Nizaam Carr and a brace by Bernard van der Linde but they somehow allowed their opponents to claw their way back into the game.

Lyon fought back gallantly with late first half tries by former Bulls No8 Arno Botha and Liam Coltman and at the same time managed to narrow the gap to 16 points.

Lyon showed why they were last season’s EPCR Challenge Cup winners, not allowing the scoreboard to frustrate them with coach Xavier Garbajosa relying on tried and tested players.

They fielded experienced campaigners like lock Romain Taofifenua and flanker Dylan Cretin up front while at the back they had the likes of flyhalf Fletcher Smith and full-back Berdeu who had a good night with the boot.

Bulls coach Jake White also went for the experience of former Stade Français flyhalf Morné Steyn and former Montpellier hooker Bismarck du Plessis in his starting line-up and they returned with solid performances.

The Bulls started the match on the front foot with two quick tries from the highly-rated Novuka and Bernard van der Linde inside 15 minutes as they made their intentions clear.

For the opener, Novuka sliced through the suspect Lyon defence and the Bulls executed a line-out with power and purpose that ended up with Van der Linde touching down in the corner.

Van der Linde returned a few minutes later for his second try after a clever dummy left Lyon defenders bemused as he dived under the poles for Steyn to easily find the middle of the poles with a conversion.

Nizaam Carr turned finisher as he crashed over the line to give the Bulls a bonus point inside 30 minutes but the visitors responded with two tries of their own before the break.

Their first try was scored by former Bulls player Arno Botha following a maul and Liam Coltman crossed over after a good driving line-out as they closed the gap to 16 points at the break.

The second half got off to a flying start with two tries in quick succession from centre Stravino Jacobs for the hosts and the visitors replying through the effort of winger Ethan Dumortier.

There were further tries by Botha and a penalty by Berdeu while the home side stayed ahead in the game through Chris Smith but the action was not over.

This ding-dong battle produced another late try by Lyon’s flanker Kyle Godwin to reduce the deficit to only six points but the Bulls held on for an important win at home against strong opposition.

Scorers

Bulls                 (28)      42

Lyon                (12)      36

Scores

Bulls

Tries: Sibongile Novuka, Bernard van der Linde (2), Nizaam Carr, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith; Conversions: Morné Steyn (6)

Lyon

Tries: Arno Botha (2), Liam Coltman, Ethan Dumortier, Kyle Godwin; Conversions: Leo Berdeu (4); Penalties: Leo Berdeu (1)