A second-half fightback from the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday wasn’t enough as Edinburgh beat Jake White’s charges to book their place in the last four of the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Trailing 24-7 at half time, the Bulls scored three tries in the second 40 minutes but Edinburgh held on for a thrilling 34-28 win at Hive Stadium, and will face Sunday’s winner between Johann van Graan’s Bath and fellow Premiership outfit Gloucester in the semi-finals on the weekend of 3-5 May.
A converted James Lang touchdown gave Edinburgh the perfect start, and the hosts doubled their lead before the close of the first quarter when No 8 Magnus Bradbury barged over from close range against a 14-man Bulls – scrumhalf Zak Burger earlier pinned and yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on at the breakdown.
The Bulls hit back swiftly, centres Harold Vorster and David Kriel combining for the latter to stretch over the whitewash. Flyhalf Keagan Johannes added the extras.
However, No 10 Ross Thompson’s fourth conversion of the match restored the hosts’ 14-point advantage after Lang burst through to complete his brace of tries. Thompson then split the uprights from the kicking tee to pile on the scoreboard pressure for the visitors before the break.
Bulls flanker Jannes Kirsten was sent to the naughty chair barely a minute after the restart for a high tackle on winger Ross McCann, and Edinburgh capitalised on their numerical advantage through skipper Grant Gilchrist’s score in the corner.
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McCann soon joined Kirsten in the sin bin for entering a maul illegally, with referee Pierre Brousset awarding the Bulls a penalty try for their efforts.
Back-row powerhouse Cameron Hanekom then dotted down under the posts to help narrow the gap for the Herd, but a second Thompson penalty strike gave Edinburgh some breathing room with 20 minutes left on the clock.
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Kriel emerged from a pile of bodies in the endzone for his second try of the afternoon, and replacement Johan Goosen made it two from two on goal as the men from the Republic threw everything at the home side in the closing stages.
But ex-Bulls prop Pierre Schoeman’s breakdown steal at the death ended his former team’s European cup run.
White’s men have little time to lick their wounds, as they return to Vodacom URC action next Saturday against Munster in Limerick, before ending a four-week tour against defending champions Glasgow Warriors (25 April).
Photo: Euan Cherry/Getty Images
