Edinburgh’s Sam Skinner celebrates a moment during the Challenge Cup quarter-final against the Bulls. Image: © Craig Watson.
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STUART BATHGATE @ Hive Stadium
THIS narrow but deserved Challenge Cup quarter-final victory, composed of equal parts incisive first-half attack and defiant second-half defence, has taken Edinburgh into a last-four tie early next month at home to either Bath or Gloucester, who meet on Sunday evening at the Rec. It also follows a solid last-16 win over the Lions a week earlier and a comfortable home win over the Dragons in the URC. Taken together, those three games demonstrate a pleasing consistency – a quality that Sean Everitt’s side have all too often lacked in the recent past.
So have Edinburgh really turned the corner? They have appeared to do so before now, only to find that old bad habits die hard. But perhaps the significance this time lies in two factors: the stage of the season at which they have upped their game; and the quality of the opposition – in this match at least – against whom they have done so.
The Bulls were well below their best in the first half here, which ended with them 24-7 adrift. And when they fell further behind in the second half, the game seemed to have got away from them entirely. But, deploying a bench that included the likes of Canaan Moodie, the South Africans fought back to within a single score as the contest entered its concluding 90 seconds.
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It was the type of pressure situation that has proven too much for Edinburgh at times, but on this occasion they were not to be denied their place in the last four, with a Pierre Schoeman turnover applying the coup de grace to the Bulls’ hopes of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
“The Bulls are a dangerous team with the power they have up front, and getting a big lead at half-time helped us,” head coach Everitt said. “We took our opportunities in the first half and that’s what you need to do against a team like this, because they do have the ability to come back.
“The second half started well and then Ross McCann’s yellow card changed the momentum. The Bulls went to what they’re good at with their power game and put us under the pump, but that’s rugby.
“The way we kept them out at the end Pierre Schoeman’s turnover on the whistle showed the guts the guys showed defensively to keep out a very good Bulls pack.
“I thought we held them out well. I’m just proud of the boys and it’s a massive confidence-builder for us.”
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Bath, with Finn Russell starting at 10, meet Gloucester this afternoon for a place in the semi on the first weekend in May. “A semi-final at home is awesome against probably two of the better teams in the Premiership at the moment,” Everitt added.
“Gloucester are really good with ball in hand – we played them earlier in the year. And then obviously Bath are the form team by far and a powerhouse team. So whoever comes out at the top there tomorrow will be ready for the challenge.”
Edinburgh were certainly ready for the challenge here, as they proved by taking an early lead. Matt Currie cut through off a short pass by James Lang, then Ben Vellacott took the attack on before passing back to Lang, who touched down between the posts to leave Ross Thompson a simple conversion. 7-0
A lacklustre start by the Bulls got worse when Zak Burger was sent to the sin-bin for slapping down a ball to illegally end a home attack. Edinburgh tapped the penalty and Vellacott thought he had touched down, but referee Pierre Brousset ruled it was short.
However, the second try was only delayed, as Edinburgh ran a penalty and player of the match Magnus Bradbury touched down a couple of phases later. Thompson’s conversion made it 14-0.
The Bulls began to look … well, a touch more bullish after that, and opened their account when David Kriel just managed to reach out of a Thompson tackle to touch down. Keagan Johannes converted.
Burger then came back on, but instead of the Bulls finding fresh impetus, it was Edinburgh who regained the upper hand. Lang chipped ahead, and when the ball rebounded from a defender, he caught it then broke through from around 10 metres out. Thompson converted again, then added a penalty shortly before the break after the Bulls had been pinged for contact in the air at a lineout.
Vellacott lined up for the start of the second half, but had to be replaced by Ali Price before play recommenced, apparently having failed to run off a foot injury. “Hopefully it’s something minor and he’ll be able to come back next week,” Everitt added.
The Bulls’ hopes of a bright start to the second 40 were dealt a double blow. First Jannes Kirsten was yellow-carded for a high tackle on McCann, and then Grant Gilchrist ploughed over to claim his team’s fourth try following a break by Ewan Ashman. Thompson’s conversion made it 31-7, which should have been game over.
But McCann soon followed Kirsten to the bin after coming in from the side to kill a Bulls attack. The referee awarded the visitors a penalty try for that offence, and Cameron Hanekom soon added another touchdown, an easy finish off the back of a scrum. Johan Goosen’s conversion of that score narrowed the gap to 31-21.
A Thompson penalty stretched the lead back to 13 points before Kirsten was lucky not to be shown a second yellow for a no-arms tackle. But the Bulls knew they still had time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and with minutes to go another Kriel try and Goosen conversion made it a one-score game.
As seasoned Edinburgh observers are all too aware, they have folded in similar situations before now. But this time they defended with patience and purpose, with that turnover by Schoeman epitomising their determination not to let the win slip from their grasp.
Teams –
Edinburgh: W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, J Lang (M Tuipulotu 68), R McCann; R Thompson (C Scott 73), B Vellacott (captain, A Price 41); B Venter (P Schoeman 51), E Ashman (D Cherry 51), J Sebastian (D Rae 64), S Skinner (R Carmichael 72), G Gilchrist (captain), J Ritchie, H Watson (B Muncaster 63), M Bradbury.
Bulls: D Williams; S Petersen (C Moodie 45), D Kriel, H Vorster, S Jacobs; K Johannes (J Goosen 41), Z Burger (E Papier 69); S Matanzima (J Wessels 41), A van der Merwe (J Grobbelaar 60), W Louw (M Smith 53), R Nortje (captain, R Ludwig 57), J van Heerden , M Coetzee (M van Staden 41), J Kirsten, C Hanekom.
Referee: P Brousset (France).
Scorers –
Edinburgh: Tries: Lang 2, Bradbury, Gilchrist. Cons: Thompson 4. Pens: Thompson 2.
Bulls: Tries: Kriel 2, penalty try, Hanekom. Con: Johannes, Goosen 2.
Scoring sequence (Edinburgh first): 5-0; 7-0; 12-0; 14-0; 14-5; 14-7; 19-7; 21-7; 24-7 ht; 29-7; 31-7; 31-14; 31-19; 31-21; 34-21; 34-26; 34-28.
Yellow cards –
Bulls: Burger (8 mins), Kirsten (42 mins)
Edinburgh: McCann (46 mins)
Attendance: 4,737.
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Challenge Cup: Edinburgh v Bulls: Fortune favours the brave for Ross Thompson