Bulls go down by single point in Champions Cup match against Lyon

A stronger second-half display by Lyon saw the side clinch a one-point victory over the Bulls in an entertaining Champions Cup match at Stade Gerland in France on Saturday.   

The French men beat their counterparts from Pretoria 29-28 and registered their first win of the campaign.   

The hosts, who were 18-12 down at the halftime break, scored three tries in the final stanza, with two of them coming from their replacement players, Yanis Charcosset and Thibaut Regard.   

Lyon’s other tries were scored by Ethan Dumortier, Pierre Pacheco and Alfred Parisian.   

The Bulls managed three tries by Zak Burger, Sergeal Petersen and Marco van Staden, while pivot Chris Smith scored 13 points from the kicking tee.   

The two sides delivered an entertaining match, with Lyon showing amazing strength on lineouts.  

There were some excellent plays from players such as Mpilo Gumede for the Bulls, while Thaakir Abrahams was brilliant for Lyon.   

The start of the match was a bit shaky for the hosts as they committed a few mistakes which led to the Bulls opening the scoring in the second minutes of the clash.   

The Bulls opening try came after hooker Jan Hendrik Wessels’ charge down which created the opportunity for Burger to collect a loose ball before he dotted the ball under poles.   

Smith’s successful kick for extras gave the South Africans a good early seven-point lead.   

The Bulls continued to build the scoreboard pressure with every opportunity they got as flyhalf Smith scored a penalty nine minutes later to make it 10-0 in favour of the visitors.

Even though they appeared to be under pressure, Lyon never stopped fighting as they created chances for themselves, but the Bulls defence was able to deal with everything until the 22nd minute.      

The hosts got themselves on the scoreboard as Dumortier went over after connecting well with a Lyon crosskick. Relo Martin Page’s kick for poles reduced the deficit to three points.   

But it took the Bulls only five minutes to respond with a try of their own, scored by Petersen to increase the lead again. While Smith missed the kick for extras, he made it up with a successful penalty a few minutes later.   

The hosts ended the first half with a bang, scoring a well-orchestrated try by Pacheco to reduce the deficit to six points.   

The Bulls started the second half on a good note, with Smith scoring another penalty.   However, Lyon were stronger as they scored three tries through Parisian, Charcosset and Regard for the hosts, who took the lead for the first time in the game on 62 minutes.   

The Bulls could only manage a single try in the second half, which was scored by Van Staden on 67 minutes.   

For the last nine minutes of the clash, the two sides were separated by a single point and the hosts held on for the slender win.

Scorers

Bulls (18) 28 — Tries: Zak Burger, Sergeal Petersen, Marco van Staden Conversion: Chris Smith (2) Penalties: Smith (3) 

Lyon (12) 29 — Tries: Ethan Dumortier, Pierre Pacheco, Alfred Parisian, Yanis Charcosset, Thibaut Regard Conversions: Relo Martin Page, Patrick Jackson