Vodacom Bulls triumphed 59-19 over Lyon in their Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 tie in Pretoria.
The fans at Loftus Versfeld were treated to 12 tries, nine of them to the hosts as they eased their way through to the quarter-final stage.
Vodacom Bulls were rarely troubled in the first half, crossing four times as wing Sebastian de Klerk, scrum-half Embrose Papier, flanker Marcell Coetzee and second-row Ruan Vermaak all went over.
Fly-half Johan Goosen converted all four tries, with Lyon only able to break through when scrum-half Martin Page-Relo dotted down a quick tap-and-go while the South African defence were looking elsewhere, fly-half Paddy Jackson converting.
Lyon came out with a point to prove in the second period. Monty Ioane split the home club open with a darting runm and with Page-Relo about to dot down for his second try centre Canan Moodie took him down with a high tackle, referee Luke Pearce having no choice but to award a penalty try and send Moodie to the bin.
There were three tries while Vodacom Bulls were down to 14, the South African clubs reestablishing their supremacy despite the disadvantage.
First full-back Willie Le Roux went over in the corner, Goosen missing the extras, before another breakaway ended with Papier grabbing his second converted score under the posts.
Lyon grabbed a third try after charging down a kick, full-back Thaakir Abrahams scoring on his return to South Africa, but the hosts soon had another through after centre David Kriel picked up an interception, replacement Chris Smith adding the extras on this occasion.
Smith scored Vodacom Bulls’ eighth try himself as Lyon’s defence completely collapsed. He again added the extras, although he missed the conversion for Vodacom Bulls’ final try after De Klerk picked up his second.
Vodacom Bulls will now play either Northampton Saints or Munster Rugby in their Investec Champions Cup quarter-final next weekend.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Sebastian de Klerk, Embrose Papier (2), Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Vermaak, Willie le Roux, David Kriel, Chris Smith, Sebastian de Klerk. Conversions: Johan Goosen (5), Chris Smith (2).
Lyon: Tries: Martin Page-Relo, Thaakir Abrahams. Conversion: Paddy Jackson.
Teams
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Izak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Devon Williams.
Lyon: 15 Thaakir Abrahams, 14 Xavier Mignot, 13 Alfred Parisien, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Jordan Taufua (c), 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Marvin Okuya, 5 Loann Goujon, 4 Theo William, 3 Paulo Tafili, 2 Guillaume Marchand, 1 Vivien Devisme. Replacements: 16 Yanis Charcosset, 17 Demba Bamba, 18 Mickael Guillard, 19 Ave Maalo, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Maxime Gouzou, 22 Ethan Dumortier, 23 Liam Rimet.
