It was one-way traffic in Pretoria as the Bulls stampeded their way into the Challenge Cup play-offs with a statement victory over Stade Francais.

Bulls boss Jake White laid down the challenge for his side in midweek stating their intention to stay involved in the EPCR competitions despite their Investec Champions Cup hopes evaporating in defeat to Castres.

And his men certainly delivered, running in seven tries as they sent the French side packing, who will now focus solely on Top 14 survival.

A penalty try got the scoring underway as Louis Carbonel was sent for an early 10-minute breather before plotting their path to victory with first-half tries from Devon Williams, Embrose Papier, Ruan Vermaak and Elrigh Louw.

Sekou Macalou’s try was the only blight on the Bulls’ first-half performance but their hopes of a comeback were put to bed with Boeta Chamberlain and Cameron Hanekom crossing for second-half scores.

Bulls hit their target

Bulls boss White rubbished any talk of a ‘dead rubber’ earlier this week as the Pretoria-based side shifted their focus from the Champions Cup to the Challenge Cup.

They headed into the match propping up Pool 3 after three straight defeats but they had the opportunity to stay in an EPCR competition but it wouldn’t be easy.

“There is a lot to play for,” White explained.

“Can we hold them and win by 22 points? Can we keep them to scoring less than four tries and stay 22 points ahead? There are a lot of learnings that we can get out of this game. There is never a dead rubber when the [Vodacom] Bulls are playing, and that says a lot about us as a franchise. We need 22 points, and that is our goal.”

He added: “The EPCR Challenge Cup is all or nothing for us. We want to win and that opportunity for us is now on the Challenge Cup.

“It’s not a dead rubber for anyone, it will be an interesting one for the supporters too because the numbers will change with each point scored.”

Despite the massive permutation challenges that they faced, White’s charges rose to the occasion and duly delivered their favourite’s tag for this fixture.

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White has won the Challenge Cup previously, doing so with Montpellier back in 2016, and will know that there are certainly improvements required for the Bulls to win the EPCR’s second division title but today, his side can enjoy the victory and overall performance.

Stade Francais’ ill-discipline

Stade Francais’ Investec Champions Cup and European campaign whimpers to a close and in the ill-disciplined manner in which it started. The French club effectively conceded their fate before kick-off naming a youthful team for the daunting task of tackling the Bulls at Loftus Versveld.

While there was a littering of French internationals in the team, it was not their best available team with defence coach Paul Gustard admitting as much before matters got underway.

Today’s defeat means that the Bulls drop into the Challenge Cup against the men in pink and considering the Parisian club’s struggles this season that was quietly the objective for Stade Francais who sit in 13th place in the Top 14.

The odds were certainly stacked against Stade to stay in the Champions Cup needing a bonus-point win over the Bulls and a favour from Saracens against Castres.

Still, the headaches that have plagued Stade Francais all season were evident again today as the competition’s most ill-disciplined team stuck to the script. Carbonel was sent to the sin bin in the opening minutes after shooting off his try-line and impending the pass illegally, conceding the penalty try for his actions.

That set the tone as Stade leaked penalty after penalty in the first half, gifting the Bulls access to the French side’s 22. The penalty count in the first half almost hit double digits but the discipline issues extended beyond that.

Far too often, the discipline around defensive responsibilities were well off the mark, which is understandable in some cases with so many youngsters in the matchday 23.

It was more of the same for Stade, who started their Champions Cup campaign with two a 33-7 defeat to Munster, which included a pair of red cards with another against Saracens a week later.

They managed to keep 15 men on the park against Northampton Saints and had just the one 10-minute period today but their ill-discipline took its toll.

Cameron Hanekom

The mark of a good player is one that delivers high-quality performances regardless of the opposition and scoreboard, and today, that was very much true for the world-class Cameron Hanekom.

While Stade Francais opted to rest several players and give youth a chance, they still had two French internationals in their loose trio, Sekou Macalou and Yoan Tanga, who were both completely outplayed by the one-cap Springbok.

Hanekom has been praised for his all-action performances, dominating several individual stats from the opening three rounds, and today was no different. Rassie Erasmus capped the Bulls star in the final game of 2024 but this year Hanekom is setting the benchmark with his performances.

He set up and scored a try today while he led the way on defence for the men in blue. Not only did he top the tackle count but also won three turnovers, a match-high.

While there were concerns about who Duane Vermeulen’s successor would be after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Hanekom, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese and Evan Roos have eased those worries with the depth now in rude health.

The Springboks face Italy and Georgia this July and Hanekom is making an incredibly strong case that he deserves a spot in the back-row for those matches, whether he dons the number eight jersey or features on the side of the scrum.

Today, he topped the charts for tackles (14), turnovers (3), and offloads (3) adding to his two try involvements and man of the match award.

Work-ons

The Bulls’ performance was aptly described as ‘well-tempered brutality’ by the South African commentators as White’s men ruthlessly went about their business.

However, there remains a lingering issue that the Bulls are falling off in the latter stages of matches. Despite dominating most of the game, the Bulls’ final contribution to the scoreline came in the 50th minute.

The Bulls scrum continued to impress with Wilco Louw teaching poor 19-year-old Isaac Koffi a harsh lesson while Gerhard Steenekamp made light work of veteran 40-year-old tighthead Francisco Gomez-Kodela. If Stade Francais are going to maintain their Top 14 status, they will need their scrum to improve immensely. Granted they were without the Alo-Emiles and Giacomo Nicotera but the four props and two hookers who featured today will certainly be required to step up.

Boeta Chamberlain’s performance today will please White but he will still be sweating over Johan Goosen’s fitness as the side’s attack certainly fires better with him and Willie le Roux in the matchday 23.

Meanwhile, the Bulls’ defence leaked just one try today, a real positive that will look to improve on with the local URC derbies coming up.