Edinburgh made the most of their opportunities to claim a gritty win over the Vodacom Bulls in a penalty-filled, wet-weather contest on Saturday.
The result had the Bulls ending their four match Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour on a low point as South Africa’s Currie Cup champions came away with just the one win over Cardiff in round three.
While the Bulls can feel hard done by with some of referee Ben Whitehouse’s calls, they were simply too error-prone and inaccurate with ball in hand. Ultimately, Edinburgh did enough to earn their 17-10 victory.
Match wrap: It was an intense start from Edinburgh, getting quick ball at the breakdown and threatening to run the Bulls ragged. Fullback Henry Immelman took just eight minutes to open the scoring for the home side when he dotted down from a kick behind the defence.
Edinburgh went into the break 14-3 ahead, with Jaco van der Walt slotting three penalties to add to Immelman’s try.
The Bulls really struggled to get a handle on the breakdown in the first half and, while they got into promising attacking positions, Edinburgh’s defence stood tall. In total, the Bulls conceded 10 turnovers and nine penalties in the first half and at times some sloppy execution was to blame.
As a positive for Jake White’s team, the lineout functioned effectively to deny Edinburgh a solid platform in the visitors’ 22-metre area.
Edinburgh did lose Van der Walt to what appeared to be a shoulder injury just before the half-time break and, as they had no out-and-out flyhalf replacement on the bench, James Johnston – more comfortable at centre – had to pick up the duties in the position.
Regardless, Edinburgh continued to dominate territory in the second half, with prop duo Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel putting the Bulls under tremendous pressure at the scrum.
In a late comeback attempt, the Bulls reduced the difference to just four points with 10 minutes to play as captain Marcell Coetzee scored from a short-range drive.
The drama continued as Edinburgh extended their lead with a penalty, before Madosh Tambwe had a try chalked off for a double movement, with the home side holding out against a late onslaught to claim the victory.
