Bulls hit back at their critics with two gutsy wins on the road at Pau and Edinburgh

The Bulls will return to Pretoria with a spring in their step after a highly profitable fortnight on the road, in which they beat Pau in the Challenge Cup and Edinburgh in Friday night’s United Rugby Championship match at the Hive Stadium.

The Bulls embarked on their tour under huge pressure after seven consecutive losses. There was criticism of coach Johan Ackermann’s game plan, which had his men playing an expansive style that was rewarded with tries but also cost them too many points.

The players were also under the spotlight for a questionable commitment to turning around the team’s nose-dive.

But in the tough conditions of the northern hemisphere, the Bulls tightened up their play and twice muscled over the finish line, showing grit and fight.

In Edinburgh, the Bulls had to dig especially deep after the home team raced into a 12-0 lead. A courageous second-half performance saw the visitors home 19-17 for a victory that hauls them up from 11th in the URC table to eighth.

The Bulls next play the Lions at Ellis Park before the URC takes a break in February for the Six Nations.

In Edinburgh, former Bulls wing Duhan van der Merwe opened the scoring with a strong finish when he crashed through two defenders. The Bulls quickly answered when flanker Marcell Coetzee scored off the back of a line-out maul. Neither fly-half converted their team’s tries, leaving the score at 5-5 after 15 minutes.

Edinburgh took the lead through a try by another former Bull, prop Pierre Schoeman, and the Bulls were 17-5 down when Edinburgh's other prop, D’Arcy Rae, crashed over under the crossbar. That remained the half-time score.

The Bulls hit back early in the second half when hooker Johan Grobbelaar went over off the back of a maul.

Transformed and in control, the Bulls' dominance was eventually rewarded with a try by flanker Marco van Staden. Handre Pollard’s conversion pushed the Bulls into a 19-17 lead, which they held until the final whistle.

Scorers

Edinburgh — Tries: Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, D’Arcy Rae. Conversion: Ross Thompson

Bulls — Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar, Marco van Staden. Conversions: Handre Pollard (2).