When the final whistle sounded in Pau — at midnight South African time — it felt as if the entire Bulls season turned on its axis in that instant.
Seven straight losses across all competitions were snapped in the most unforgiving of places, against Section Paloise in the Investec Champions Cup, with the Pyrenees looming dark and judgmental in the background, and the Stade du Hameau bristling with French expectation.
The Bulls had been battered, doubted, dissected, and dismissed over the past two months. At midnight, SA time, they answered every critic in one furious, defiant final 10 minutes.
This was a win of character because at 24-12 down, against a home team currently second in the demanding French Top 14, the night looked miserable for the Bulls.
Only a week earlier, the Bulls had been humiliated in Pretoria, conceding 61 points and nine tries to Bristol. It was the sort of result that breaks teams, fractures belief and accelerates coaching obituaries.
Ignited by youth
And yet, in Pau, when the clock screamed pressure and the scoreboard mocked effort, the Bulls finally fought like a team that remembered who they were. The match turned on belief, but it was ignited by youth and finished by experience.
The defining moment came through Cheswill Jooste, the SA Under-20 world champion winger who announced himself on the European stage with a try of outrageous quality.
Ackermann made 10 changes from the Pretoria debacle, mixed experience with youth, and got the result that has eluded him for the past seven matches
The spark was struck by Sebastian de Klerk, exploding from outside centre, rounding the defence, and offloading to the flying winger.
Jooste, all pace, balance, composure, and poise, showed his skill set with a kick ahead, gathering, and galloping to the tryline. Handre Pollard’s boot turned five points into seven and a losing bonus point into an opportunity to win with a bonus point.
This comeback mattered because of who wasn’t there. No Springbok props Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw. No Springbok utility back Canan Moodie and no Springbok loose forward Cameron Hanekom.
Ackermann made 10 changes from the Pretoria debacle, mixed experience with youth, and got the result that has eluded him for the past seven matches.
The bench, so often accused of offering little impact this season, finally delivered. Ruan Nortje, Marco van Staden and Jeandre Rudolph arrived with intent, physicality, and edge.
Pressure in dying minutes
Nortje brought lineout control and defensive steel. Van Staden brought aggression and momentum. Together they tilted the collision area just enough for the Bulls to apply sustained pressure in the dying minutes.
Then came the ice.
Double World Cup winner Pollard has made a career out of moments like this, and in Pau he reminded us that when the big kicks need to be converted, he’s the master off the kicking tee.
Finally, we saw leadership without bluster, thunder, and hollow noise. Players showed desire, with Rudolph the ultimate Bull on the charge.
Week after week, even as the Bulls stumbled, Rudolph has been their most consistent carrier, their most honest worker, a warrior in getting crucial turnovers, and increasingly their emotional heartbeat.
This season, despite the seven successive defeats, is the best of his career, and Pau was another reminder that elite performance can exist even when results don’t.
Ackermann’s arrival
The bigger question now is what this win means because the Bulls have to back it up with victory in Scotland against Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship.
For coach Ackermann, it marks his arrival more than his survival.
His methods, his culture-first approach, and his insistence on accountability have been questioned loudly in recent weeks. This victory won’t silence critics overnight, but it gives his project oxygen. More importantly, it gives his players belief that the work matters.
The Bulls won 26-24 and kept alive their Investec Champions Cup last 16 playoff hopes, and they did it displaying all the characteristics of what historically has defined the Bulls DNA.
Pau took the ball through 18 phases to force a final scoring opportunity, but it was Rudolph who won the breakdown penalty and the match with his steal of the ball.
The Bulls had beaten doubt, fatigue, form and fear — and in those final 10 minutes, they looked like players who simply stopped apologising for not being good enough, and showed why they are good enough to be a contender in any competition.
Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer, and the digital content director at Habari Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
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