Pretoria Bulls 42 Edinburgh 33
RETURNING home to South Africa, Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt enjoyed some dinner on Friday night with his Bulls counterpart Jake White.
The pair are close friends and fired up the grill for a Braai, a traditional South African barbecue, at White’s house just hours before this quarter-final clash in the United Rugby Championship.
But it was Everitt and his Edinburgh players whose goose was cooked in Pretoria as the Bulls feasted on six tries to claim their place in the semi-finals.
Edinburgh forward Magnus Bradbury is tackled by Bulls’ Sebastian de Klerk
Ewan Ashman touches down for a first-half try against the Bulls in Pretoria
This was not the hammering that many feared it might be for Edinburgh. On the contrary, this was very much a case of what might have been.
Everitt’s side led 21-8 after half an hour thanks to two tries from Ross Thompson and one from Wes Goosen. They were in the process of ripping up the script.
But the surroundings at Loftus Versfeld can do strange things to visiting teams. Perhaps it was the altitude of the Highveld and the thought of scaling such heights on the field, Edinburgh suffered a collective nose bleed.
They collapsed midway through the game, conceding all six tries in the space of little more than half an hour, and three in little more than 10 minutes after half-time, before finding a second wind again near the end.
There was a lot to like about their performance, a lot to be proud of away from home in such a testing arena, but the reality is that their season is now over.
Knockout rugby offers no second chances and no pats on the back. Having been in such a commanding position after half an hour, the reality is that Edinburgh threw this one away.
‘We started the game really well,’ said Everitt. ‘We looked really dangerous, caused the Bulls a lot of problems, and got ourselves into a lead.
‘But then there was a 12-minute blitz from the Bulls where they scored three tries early in the second half to take the game away from us a little bit.
‘I am really proud of the guys in terms of how they still fought back towards the end. It’s been a long, tough season but we still kept going right until the end. We’ve improved a lot this year and we should be proud.
‘Congratulations to the Bulls. They have got a home semi-final now to look forward to and they are a very hard team to stop when they have momentum.’
Playing at such altitude on the Highveld, and with baking-hot sunshine beating down as the match kicked-off, this would be a test of Edinburgh’s fitness and mental fortitude as much as anything.
The Bulls had finished the regular season in excellent form, with six straight victories ensuring they came into the play-offs as one of the form sides in the competition.
Bulls back David Kriel makes a break during Saturday’s game in Pretoria
Ruan Nortje tries to charge down a kick from Edinburgh scrum-half Ali Price
But it was Edinburgh who made the perfect start and took the lead on five minutes, just seconds after Bulls winger Sebastian de Klerk had been sin-binned for a high shot on Darcy Graham.
Harry Paterson played a key role in the build-up as Edinburgh worked the ball out wide, with Hamish Watson eventually delivering the final pass for Goosen to score in the corner.
The sense of shock among the home crowd when a rampant Edinburgh scored a second try on 13 minutes to race further clear.
It was a brilliant finish from Thompson, with the fly-half waltzing through a gap and showing great footwork before touching down.
The Bulls made a dent on the scoreboard thanks to a penalty from fly-half Keagan Johannes, before they finally clicked into gear and scored their first try on 19 minutes.
It was their talismanic No 8 Cameron Hanekom who powered over from close range. Having made his international debut last year, it wasn’t hard to see why 23-year-old Hanekom is viewed as the next big thing in the Springboks’ back row.
Credit to Edinburgh for the way in which they kept asking questions of the Bulls. Their enterprising approach was rewarded with a third try on 29 minutes.
After James Lang made a good line-break, the ball was fed to Thompson and he darted over for his second try of the afternoon.
Leading 21-8 after half an hour, Edinburgh were threatening a huge shock. But the Bulls came roaring back with two tries in the space of half an hour just before half-time.
Veteran full-back Willie Le Roux broke through a gap and fed the prolific centre David Kriel to score, before his midfield partner Harold Vorster went over in the corner.
From Edinburgh’s point of view, the defending was poor. Ali Price, in particular, should have done far better to make a tackle and get Vorster into touch as he neared the try-line.
But the Bulls were profligate with their kicking and another missed conversion ensured that Edinburgh still led 21-18 as the teams went in at half-time.
But it was clear that the home side now had the bit between their teeth. Perhaps starting to smell blood, the Bulls took the lead just two minutes after the break when Springbok winger Canan Moodie scored after a lovely offload from Le Roux.
Edinburgh were starting to wilt in the searing heat and energy-sapping altitude, with the Bulls making it a quickfire double when Johannes broke through a gap and raced away to score his team’s fifth try of the day.
Trailing 32-21, Edinburgh knew they really needed to find the next score if they were to claw their way back into the game.
Sebastian De Klerk of the Bulls evades the tackle of Edinburgh winger Wes Goosen
The Bulls take a line out at Loftus Versfeld Stadium during the URC play-off tie
But the Bulls put the matter beyond doubt when skipper Ruan Nortje powered over from close range on 53 minutes after a period of sustained pressure.
Edinburgh finally got going again when the ball was recycled quickly from a ruck and hooker Ewan Ashman crashed over on 59 minutes, with the Bulls down to 14 men again as lock JF van Heerden was yellow-carded.
But Edinburgh’s momentum was halted immediately when Magnus Bradbury fumbled the restart and gifted possession back to the home side, with Thompson then sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on shortly after.
Another penalty from Johannes stretched the Bulls’ lead to 42-28, before Edinburgh replied again when Goosen touched down in the corner after a flowing team move from the visitors.
With Thompson off the pitch, it was Mark Bennett who took aim with the conversion but the ball sailed wide of the posts.
A chaotic game rather fizzled out in the final 10 minutes, with the Bulls seeing it through for the victory. Having been chewed up and spat out, Edinburgh were left to ponder a missed opportunity.
