The men from Pretoria had a rough start with Edinburgh drawing blood within the first five minutes of the game, when James Lang scored after a superb run by Matt Curie.  The Bulls then went down to 14 men just three minutes later, when Zak Burger was sin-binned for slapping the ball forward.  Pressure by Edinburgh resulted in their second converted try courtesy of Magnus Bradbury, who went over from close range.

The Bulls hit back almost right away with David Kriel reaching for the line after being caught, but just before the half-hour mark Lang’s kick was charged down, just to pop back into his hands.  He scored under the poles for an easy converted try.

The two teams went into the shed with Edinburgh leading by 24-7 at half-time.  The Bulls had a hill to climb, not made easier with another yellow card at the start of the second half, this time for Jannes Kirsten for a tackle on Ross McCann.

Edinburgh took advantage of the Bulls’ yellow with Grant Gilchrist going over the whitewash, but Thompson wasn’t able to convert.  Lady luck smiled briefly on the Bulls with a penalty try when McCann came from the side to hold Akker van der Merwe up at the try-line. This time, the Bulls took advantage of one less player on the field with Stravino Jacobs scoring a converted try.

Edinburgh widened the gap ever so slightly with a penalty, but the Bulls were not ready to give up and three minutes before the final whistle, Kriel went over the line with Johan Goosen quickly taking the kick.

But not even the Bulls could conquer this mountain, with the final whistle blowing on 34-28. The winner of the match between Bath and Gloucester, will take on Edinburgh in the semi-finals of the competition.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger