The Bulls have booked their place in the URC final after one of the great second-half comebacks, overturning an 18-point deficit to beat Glasgow Warriors 22-21 in their semifinal at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Glasgow led 21-3 at one stage, with the Bulls spending long stretches of the first half reduced to 14 men — first after Handre Pollard was sin-binned, then Ruan Nortje. South African-born Glasgow wing Kyle Steyn scored twice down the right touchline, and a penalty try extended the home side's advantage to seemingly unassailable proportions.
The Bulls clawed back to 10-21 before the break through a Johan Grobbelaar try — the hooker's 150th appearance for the franchise — and a critical moment just before halftime kept the deficit manageable. Glasgow's Kyle Rowe was through with only Kurt-Lee Arendse to beat, but cut inside rather than taking the space on his left, and Arendse's ankle-tap forced a knock-on that denied the Warriors what would have been a match-sealing score.
Johan Ackermann's halftime message was straightforward. "My only thing was 'guys, we're 21-10 down, I ask one thing — let's go score the first try. If we score the first try and it's 21-17, then we're in the game'," Ackermann said. "And the boys responded to that."
Glasgow lock Scott Cummings was sent off shortly after the restart, and the Bulls capitalised immediately. Man of the match Embrose Papier darted from a ruck on the line to make it 15-21, before Cameron Hanekom carried powerfully from the left touchline to set up prop Francois Klopper for the go-ahead try. Pollard's conversion put the Bulls 22-21 ahead with more than 20 minutes remaining.
Pollard missed three second-half penalty attempts, two of them from makeable range, and with ten minutes left a wayward Papier box kick and a subsequent knock-on by Nizaam Carr handed Glasgow a scrum in promising territory. The Bulls pack answered emphatically, driving the Glasgow eight back to win the penalty and extinguish the last serious home threat.
Scorers — Glasgow 21 (21): Tries: Kyle Steyn 2, penalty try. Cons: Dan Lancaster 2. Bulls 22 (10): Tries: Johan Grobbelaar, Embrose Papier, Francois Klopper. Cons: Handre Pollard 2. Pens: Pollard.