South Africa's two biggest franchises, the Bulls and Stormers, competed in the Champions Cup on Saturday with mixed results.
The Stormers took a 16-0 lead in the second half against La Rochelle and were looking for a commanding victory, but then injuries appeared and disrupted the Cape team's momentum.
La Rochelle then made a fine fightback in the closing stages to take the lead, but after some jeers the Stormers had a chance to grab the win, with Suleiman Hartzenberg collecting a cross-field kick and scoring. However, Manny Livbok's conversion was a huge success.
“It was an impossible kick. It was impossible in that wind,” coach John Dobson said after the game.
“What I was really proud of was how they tried to score that try. Damien [Willemse] He could have scored in the corner, but he tried to get in. Many teams would have just scored a try. Our maul looked pretty promising, but we didn't want to score a maul try.
“We were playing against a champion who was completely disrupted by injuries and we were worried about where we were going to score. That maturity under that pressure.
“That's hurting every team in the world. Normally I would have just malled and let Manier kick it. That kind of calmness and maturity was really cool.”
Heartbreaking for the Stormers, but the Bulls won't stop
The Bulls were unstoppable, beating Lyon 59-19 with back-to-back tries from Embrose Papier and Sebastian de Klerk.
With this victory, the Pretoria-based team advanced to the last eight of the EPCR competition for the first time.
It was also an expressive performance for the Bulls after last week's heavy defeat at URC against Leinster.
“We wanted to rebound. A good team is a team that takes a performance like last week and makes sure to back it up with a decent performance,” coach Jake White said.
“Some of those tries were outstanding…and over the years people have gone from seeing the Bulls being able to scrum and maul to the kind of rugby we saw. Ta” [on Saturday].
“It's obviously very gratifying to get that kind of reaction and also gratifying to be able to exchange the way we play. We use high felt and the elevation and practice surface as a bonus. I am very happy that I was able to get the win.”
Other notable matches
Meanwhile, the Lions were eliminated from the Challenge Cup after losing to Benetton in Treviso on Saturday night.
The Cheetahs' strong fight back wasn't enough in Saturday's Round of 16 clash with Clermont at the Stade Marcel Michelin.
The Sharks will be the last team to face Zebre on Sunday at 4 p.m.
