Bulls, Sharks off to fliers, but Stormers crash in Champions Cup

The Bulls and Sharks got their Champions Cup campaigns off to the best possible starts with bonus point wins over Lyon and Harlequins respectively, while the Stormers slipped to a disappointing defeat against Clermont Auvergne at the weekend.

The Bulls and Sharks both had the luxury of playing their first games at home, but had to face their own struggles with the Bulls fielding a largely second string team, while the Sharks received a red card, but both teams managed to prevail.

This while the Stormers received a good lesson in how tough playing away will be in the competition after they could not pick up a single point in their match in France.

In the Bulls match, the home side produced a brilliant opening 25 minutes in which they stormed into a 28-0 lead, but in the end they had to defend their line desperately as the game went into six minutes of added time before they managed to secure a thrilling 42-36 win.

“I am very happy with the win. I am very happy with the way we played in those first 25 minutes, it was some of the best rugby we have played since we’ve been together. But the last five minutes showed me a lot in the way we defended,” said Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White.

“We made it difficult for ourselves. But to defend and keep them out for those last five minutes I thought it was a phenomenal effort and I am very proud of the guys.”

Sharks survive

In the Sharks match it was Harlequins who struck first, before the Sharks came right back to take a 22-14 lead into the halftime break, before extending their lead to 29-14 early in the second half.

A red card to prop Ox Nche in the 58^th minute for a head clash in the tackle, which came a minute after hooker Bongi Mbonambi had been yellow carded for repeated infringements, reduced them to 13-men.

This sparked a comeback from Harlequins that saw them reduce the deficit to 32-31 with five minutes left, but the Sharks showed tremendous composure to score a late converted try to seal a 39-31 win.

The Stormers match was a game of two halves as the visitors, backed by a superb first half defensive effort, took an impressive 14-3 lead into the halftime break, only for Clermont to come storming back in the second half with 21 unanswered points to earn a 24-14 victory.

It was a bitterly disappointing second half showing after their first half heroics, from the Stormers as they slipped from a winning position to one where they couldn’t even claim a losing bonus point.

ALSO READ: Samoa triumph in challenging conditions at Cape Town Sevens

“The first half was very good when we stuck to our plan. The second half, for the third week in a row but for completely different reasons, was really disappointing. I think we just made a lot of errors,” explained Stormers coach John Dobson.

“We knocked on three balls in our 22m trying to exit, there was a turned over ball which cost us a bonus point try. We also kicked the ball directly out. Against a team like Clermont it was just too much.”