Bulls dumped out of Champions Cup by Northampton

Northampton Saints thrashed the Bulls 59-22 in their Champions Cup clash at the Cinch Stadium on Saturday night to advance to the semifinal stage. 

Northampton powered nine tries from James Ramm (2), Courtney Lawes, Ollie Sleightholme, Alex Mitchell, Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall, Alex Mitchell and Juarno Augustus as they made it to the semifinals for the first time since 2011. 

The Bulls crossed the white line through the efforts of Cameron Hanekom, Akker van der Merwe and Sebastian de Klerk but it was not enough as their hopes were dashed at Franklin's Gardens. 

Bulls coach Jake White received criticism during the week when he announced what was deemed in some quarters as a weakened team that did not have most of the key players who featured in the 59-19 win over Lyon in the last round. 

The Bulls will have to recover from this heavy defeat as they return home to another tough encounter against Irish giants Munster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday. 

It promises to be an intriguing match at Loftus as the third-placed Bulls above Munster in the log standings and they are separated by two points between them.