The Vodacom Bulls snapped a seven-match losing streak in the south of France to salvage something from what has been a disastrous Investec Champions Cup campaign.
Johan Ackermann’s team beat Pau 26-24 to put themselves into a good position to qualify for the round of 16. They would need to wait on the result of the match between Northampton Saints and Scarlets at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday.
It was the Bulls who made a promising start, rewarded when loose forward Mpilo Gumede crashed over in the corner for the first points of the match after just three minutes. The try came from a turnover and then a beautiful skip-pass from hooker Akker van der Merwe that set Gumede up for the five-pointer. Unfortunately Handré Pollard couldn’t convert.
The try seemingly spurred Pau into life, as they starting stringing some good phases together. Their set-piece was strong and it produced a maul try courtesy of hooker Youri Delhommel.
The Bulls lost fluidity and made some costly errors. Pollard failed to kick a penalty into touch which would’ve set them up to strike from the lineout, and he also fired a bad pass to centre Harold Vorster, which then led to another turnover from a promising position.
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At the 30-minute mark, the Bulls breached Pau’s line once again as van der Merwe powered over the line from a maul. Pollard was successful with the conversion.
But the hosts again turned on the intensity, which led to tries by lock Jimi Maximin and a second of the night for Delhommel. The Bulls ended the half with 14 men after lock Reinhardt Ludwig was yellow carded for repeat infringements.
Conditions worsened in the second half and prevented either team from really getting into any rhythm, but it was Pau who again took advantage of ill-discipline from the Bulls to extend their lead. Replacement flyhalf Thomas Souverbie kicking a penalty for a 12-point lead.
But two moments of brilliance – first from outside centre Sebastian de Klerk and then winger Cheswill Jooste – led to the Bulls’ third try. Pollard bringing his team to within five. The Bulls seemed to find an extra gear ten minutes from full-time, and in the 73rd minute No 8 Nizaam Carr burrowed over for the bonus point try.
The Vodacom Bulls create a try out of nothing 🤩✨
Cheswill Jooste brings the visitors right back into this match with just over 10 minutes to play ⏱️
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— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 16, 2026
PAU – Tries: Youri Delhommel (2), Jimi Maximin. Conversions: Cameron Mondimat (1), Thomas Souverbie (2).
Penalty: Souverbie
BULLS – Tries: Mpilo Gumede, Akker van der Merwe, Cheswill Jooste, Nizaam Carr. Conversions: Handré Pollard (3)
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
