BULLS STRIKES LUCK WITH FIRST WIN IN URC CUP AGAINST EDINBURGH

In their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in the Scottish capital on Friday night, the Vodacom Bulls pulled off another Lazarus act, rallying from a 17-5 deficit to defeat Edinburgh 19-17.

The outcome is the Bulls' first victory in the URC in Edinburgh, and while it supported their victory over French team Pau in the Investec Champions Cup last week to end a seven-game losing streak, it was a tense, nerve-wracking victory that won't definitively determine whether the Bulls have turned the corner and are on the right track following their dismal run earlier in the season.

Referee Gianluca Gnecci called a contentious try by Springbok Marco van Staden that appeared to be grounded but was actually held up, leading to the victory.

After the Bulls players objected, Gnecci went upstairs to the television match official, who instructed him to reverse his initial ruling and give the Bulls the victory after viewing many replays that didn't appear to demonstrate a try.

Watching it live, the likelihood was that Van Staden would have scored anyhow, but there was a possibility that fellow Bok Boan Venter had held him up in the movement, and TMOs are typically reluctant to try when television evidence is inconclusive.

After a performance that the Bulls will once again claim came down to guts and desperation, it was a touch of luck that went their way, and they still have a lot of work ahead of them. Because the Bulls were lacking in several areas, including lineouts and ball protection in their rucks, even though the fightback had a lot of positive aspects.

A lack of patience cost them multiple scoring opportunities when they were attacking. They may, however, take great pride in their scrambling defensively, which prevented the linebreaks and prevented them from scoring more than three tries.

That may not have been the case earlier in the season, but the Bulls' performance demonstrated that they still have a lot of fight left. The Bulls will take notice of the fact that Edinburgh appeared to get away with pulling several players off the ball and were permitted to frequently interfere with the Bulls' rucks, but their own failure to apply pressure when the tide was in their favour is also a cause for concern.

The majority of the eight injured Springboks will be back for the team's next game against the Lions, and they will be hoping that their recent victories will give them some momentum for a successful run in South Africa. However, the way they played in the first half gave Edinburgh a lot of confidence because the players were passive on defence, allowing Edinburgh to make some excellent tackle yards or avoid tackles virtually at will.

Before Duhan van der Merwe got the ball into his hands to take two Bulls players over the line and score, the ball spread wide twice during the initial attempt, which was not surprising. After booting a penalty to the corner, the Bulls responded six minutes later with their first opportunity at a driving maul. The lineout maul did its thing, rumbling downfield quickly such that skipper Marcell Coetzee could dive over in a mess of bodies for the try.

With players advancing towards the Bulls' line, Edinburgh continued to make metres upfield and were making pick-and-goes pretty simple. The Bulls eventually ran out of players despite some tough resistance in the 17th minute when Pierre Schoeman scored by going through Cheswill Jooste's challenge on him from close range due to a mismatch.

While many may not have noticed, the irony of two former Bulls players scoring tries for their new team against their old one was evident in the first half.

With Edinburgh's third attempt, the Bulls became the masters of their own downfall. Kurt-Lee Arendse attempted to run the ball up from inside his own 22-meter area after winning it, but he was caught and gave up a penalty for holding on. Edinburgh attacked the Bulls' line once again after kicking to the corner, and prop D'arcy Rae powered over under the posts to give them a comfortable 17-5 lead at halftime.

Even though they weren't quite the well-oiled machine of the previous season, the Bulls displayed some tougher play in the second half.

In the 44th minute, player of the match Johan Grobbelaar led another powerful lineout maul from behind before breaking off and crashing over the line to put the Bulls within five. Before Van Staden's try ended the impasse, it remained that way for a considerable amount of the second half as both teams battled the wind and pouring rain, shadow boxing. The team had to hang out for the final ten minutes when Handre Pollard put over the conversion to give them the narrowest of leads.

When Darcy Graham got into space on the outside, there was a huge breath of relief. However, he then grubbered the ball forward and watched it roll over the sideline. It ultimately came down to their scrum when it mattered. The Bulls had something to cling to when everything went wrong, and it was the same one that ruled all night.

In the 79th minute, the reserve front row stepped up and won a fantastic penalty. The lineout, for once, was successful, and the Bulls finished the game.Even if it might not be the turnaround their supporters had hoped for, winning back-to-back games after seven losses might make it seem like anything is possible.