It was a match where the Bulls’ DNA shone well and truly as they outmuscled Bayonne in most aspects of the game.
The match started with Bayonne having the most possession and providing the Bulls with a defensive test.
Bayonne earned the first penalty in the fifth minute as the Bulls had hands in the ruck.
Scrumhalf Baptiste Germain opened the home side’s account in the sixth minute with a successful penalty goal.
The Bulls got their running game going, putting the home side under pressure as they cleared the ball away just outside their 22-metre area.
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The visitors formed a line-out maul and earned a penalty from it as they opted for the corner.
The Bulls squandered the attacking opportunity as Bayonne contested the line-out and JF van Heerden knocked it on which signalled the first scrum of the match.
Bayonne won the scrum and looked to run it from their own 22-metre area, but a forward pass gifted the Bulls a second bite at the cherry with a scrum feed eight metres from Bayonne’s line.
The Bulls won the scrum penalty with a dominating shove and opted for goal, which Keagan Johannes slotted to level matters in the 14th minute.
The momentum shifted in favour of the visitors moments later.
A great switch play between Harold Vorster and David Kriel, followed up by Devon Williams saw him get the inside ball away to Sergeal Petersen who dotted down in the 16th minute for the opening try. Johannes was unable to convert.
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The Bulls found their rhythm after another powerful scrum just inside their own half as they did well to win metres with strong running and carries, but unfortunately Johannes aimlessly kicked the ball away as fullback Cheikh Tiberghien called the mark.
The match went back and forth for the most part since Petersen’s try, with both sides not giving the other an inch to work with.
Bayonne won a breakdown penalty and attacked from a line-out inside the Bulls’ 22-metre area.
They went through multiple phases before a long pass by scrumhalf Germain to his centre Federico Mori saw him dot down in the corner to level matters in the 31st minute. Germain missed the conversion attempt.
A double turnover – first from Bayonne, then by the Bulls saw the visitors get a scrum feed after both teams made contact with the referee with the Bulls in possession.
The Bulls earned the penalty once again for their dominance and Johannes found touch just inside Bayonne’s 22 metre area with two minutes of play to go before half-time.
Bayonne contested the line-out, but the Bulls managed to get possession back and made it count in the 39th minute as Zak Burger got his offload away in the tackle to Reinhardt Ludwig.
The utility forward had enough pace and power to go over the line to score as Johannes extended the lead to seven points with seconds to spare.
The restart was contested and both sets of players went into touch with possession that signalled half-time.
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The second half started with the Bulls putting Bayonne under pressure from the restart, but the home side did well to recover.
A comedy of errors, which included a charge down and a grubber kick which Jan-Hendrik Wessels gathered and offloaded to Stravino Jacobs.
He in turn kicked the ball ahead and it bounced back from a Bayonne boot and got regathered by David Kriel who went into the corner for the Bulls’ third try which Johannes concerted in the 45th minute.
Bayonne earned a penalty from a maul and opted for the corner two minutes later.
The hosts won the line-out and earned another penalty for an illegal collapse of the maul against the Bulls.
They rolled the dice again and was stopped just short of the line, but the pick and go by Remi Bourdeau got Bayonne back within striking distance in the 49th minute as Tiberghien slotted the conversion.
Cameron Hanekom conceded a penalty immediately off the restart as he played a Bayonne player in the air who contested for the ball but the hosts couldn’t find touch.
The Bulls counter-attacked from that missed touch through Petersen and Kriel, and Bayonne carried the ball back to gift the Bulls a five-metre attacking scrum and earned the penalty.
They opted to scrum again and the result was the same, only this time Bayonne got a warning for their repeated infringements.
For a third time, the sides packed down again, and Cameron Hanekom broke away from the back as the Bulls set the phases but Bayonne defended well to push them back.
The ball got turned over and Bayonne counter-attacked as Akker van der Merwe high-tackled Nadir Megdoud and was yellow-carded for his indiscretion.
Bayonne backed their maul again before breaking away and using their numerical advantage but the Bulls’ defensive effort forced the error as Bayonne knocked the ball on.
Marcell Coetzee found ample space to work his side deep into Bayonne’s 22-meter area after a line-out steal, but No.8 Giovanni Habel-Kuffner turned the ball over.
Bayonne counter counter-attacked and a desperate tackle by David Kriel saved an almost certain try as the ball was lost forward in contact.
The game well and truly opened up past the 60th minute mark with both sides finding gaps but unable to turn their scoring opportunities into points.
The Bulls went back to their DNA by playing a pick-and-go power game which had Bayonne scrambling on defence.
After multiple phases, Marco van Staden dotted down in the 67th minute next to the posts as Johan Goosen slotted the conversion.
Bayonne had a chance in the 74th minute to get back within striking distance, but Cameron Hanekom’s intervention to hold the ball up over the line stopped the opportunity.
Moments later, after the goal-line dropout, Tom Spring dotted down after a good counter attack, which Tiberghein converted with four minutes to play.
Cameron Hanekom won a penalty inside Bayonne’s 22 after the hosts attacked off a mark in their red zone and lost the ball backwards due to great defensive pressure by Stedman Gans.
Johan Goosen finished proceedings with a penalty goal to seal a famous win for the Bulls and send them into the Challenge Cup semifinals.
Scorers
For Aviron Bayonnais:
Tries: Mori, Bourdeau, Spring
Cons: Tiberghien 2
Pens: Germain
For Bulls:
Tries: Petersen, Ludwig, Kriel, Van Staden
Cons: Johannes 2, Goosen
Pens: Johannes, Goosen
Yellow card: Akker van der Merwe (Bulls: Dangerous tackle around the neck 54′)
Teams
Aviron Bayonnais: 15 Cheikh Tiberghien, 14 Nadir Megdoud, 13 Arnaud Erbinartegaray, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Xan Mousques, 10 Tom Spring, 9 Baptiste Germain, 8 Giovanni Habel-Kuffner (captain), 7 Rémi Bourdeau, 6 Noa Traversier, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Veikoso Poloniati, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Lucas Martin, 1 Pierre Castillon.
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Martin Villar, 18 Pieter Scholtz, 19 Denis Marchois, 20 Lucas Paulos, 21 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 22 Baptiste Tilloles, 23 Aurélien Callandret.
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Reinhardt Ludwig, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Stedman Gans.
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Sara Cox (England) & Jack Makepeace (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
