Staff Reporter.
Toulouse’s French fly-half Romain Ntamack takes on the Bulls in a lasst-16 Champions Cup match on Sunday. Picture: Charly Triballeau.
The Vodacom Bulls ran out of steam at Le Stadium on Sunday as five-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse scored 21 unanswered points to advance to the quarter-finals.
The 33-9 defeat brought down the curtain on the Bulls’ maiden Champions Cup campaign as they became the first South African team to be eliminated from the European cup competitions this season.
The first half was a low-scoring affair, as Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith and Toulouse fullback Tomas Ramos traded penalties. Despite Toulouse dominating at times, and the Bulls losing Harold Vorster to a yellow card after 30 minutes for repeated infringements, the hosts were unable to find their way to the try line and went into the break with a 12-6 lead.
Vorster served his sentence and returned before Smith added another penalty to narrow the gap to just three points.
The Bulls defence finally began to show some wear, and it crumbled with 30 minutes to go when burly lock Emmanuel Meafou, and then winger Matthis Lebel, scored to put the tourists into a 26-9 hole at the start of the final quarter.
But Toulouse ran riot in the final stanza, and they were rewarded with the final points of the match when replacement lock Thibaud Flament crossed after a clever dink over the line from scrumhalf Antoine Dupont.
Victory for Toulouse sets them up for a visit from the Sharks next week in what promises to be a blockbuster quarter-final.
In other matches, Leicester beat Edinburgh 16-6, Leinster beat Ulster 30-15, La Rochelle edged Gloucester 29-26 and Saracens beat Ospreys 35-20.
Champions Cup Quarter-finals:
Friday: Leinster v Leicester
Saturday: Toulouse v Sharks, Exeter Chiefs v Stormers, La Rochelle v Saracens.