The battle between the Vodacom Bulls and Edinburgh was gripping; however, the Bulls used the advantage of playing with the wind to dominate the second half, overturning a 17-05 lead by Edinburgh into a deserved 19-17 win.
Edinburgh had a dominant start, and Duhan van der Merwe bulldozed his way over the tryline to open the scoring after five minutes.
Seven minutes later, the Bulls responded with a try by Marcell Coetzee off the back of a five-meter lineout-maul to level the scores 05-05.
The Bulls conceded a penalty from the kick-off, and following several pick-and-goes, Pierre Schoeman bulldozed his way over the try line to retake the lead for Edinburgh to 10-05.
Thereafter, the defence of the Bulls kept Edinburgh on several occations; however, Edinburgh’s prop, D’Arcy Rae, crashed over under the sticks. Ross Thompson converted to extend Edinburgh’s lead to 17-05 with six minutes still to play in the first half.
The Bulls looked a bit flat-footed on the attack, and the kicks by Pollard did not create any opportunities. The breakdowns were not impressive; however, they did play in the first half against a strong wind and should be able to use the wind in their backs in the second half.
The Bulls started the second half like a house on fire, and Johan Grobbelaar crashed over off the back of a lineout-maul. Pollard converted the try to cut Edinburgh’s lead to 17-12 after four minutes of play in the second half.
There was a definite swing of momentum in the second half, with the Bulls looking good on the attack, suddenly finding gaps in Edinburgh’s defence. However, for the following twenty-five minutes, both teams had their moments; however, the Bulls spent most of the time in Edinburgh’s half.
With ten minutes to play, Marco van Staden took a tap from eight meters out and bulldozed his way over Edinburgh’s tryline. Pollard’s conversion attempt was on target to edge the Bulls 19-17 into the lead.
Scorers:
Edinburgh Rugby: Tries: Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, D’Arcy Rae. Conversion: Ross Thompson.
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar, Marco van Staden. Conversions: Handre Pollard (2)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Wes Goosen, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Piers O’Conor.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Sebastian de Klerk, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Alu Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Stravino Jacobs,