Stade Toulousain ended the Vodacom Bulls’ maiden Heineken Champions Cup campaign with a commanding 33-9 win at Le Stadium on Sunday, in the South of France.
Emmanuel Meafou, Matthis Lebel and Thibaud Flament went over in a dominant second-half display from the five-time champions, Thomas Ramos adding a further 18 points from the tee.
Vodacom Bulls battled hard but bow out at the Round of 16 stage, with three Chris Smith penalties all they could muster in France.
The first half was a fascinating, tactical battle in the south-west of France, fly-half Smith putting Vodacom Bulls ahead with a penalty after a minute before full-back Ramos struck three quick-fire efforts of his own.
Toulouse wrestled control of the contest as the half wore on, piling on the pressure and ultimately forcing a yellow card for Vodacom Bulls centre Harold Vorster as he was punished for a string of offences in the red zone.
But the visitors would defend superbly to survive the 10-minute period with a man less, Toulouse opting to take three points through Ramos as they were met with stubborn resistance.
And Vodacom Bulls would cancel out that effort immediately after as Smith slotted a second penalty following the restart, before they battled to half-time and returned to their full complement after the break.
Smith slotted a third penalty early in the second half, but Toulouse began to click into gear, lock Meafou punching through from close range on 50 minutes after their best attacking move of the game.
Ramos’ conversion established a 10-point gap and that widened further four minutes later as wing Lebel finished brilliantly in the corner after being teed up scrum-half Antoine Dupont.
Flanker Flament notched a third score on 64 minutes, starting the move with surge through midfield before diving on Dupont’s chip over the Vodacom Bulls defence.
Toulouse pushed for a fourth try over the remaining minutes, but Vodacom Bulls stuck to their task and repelled the hosts on several occasions.
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VODACOM BULLS SCORERS:
Penalties: Chris Smith x3
VODACOM BULLS vs ULSTER STARTING XV: 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 3. Mornay Smith, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Ruan Nortje (c), 6. Marco van Staden, 7. Cyle Brink, 8. Elrigh Louw, 9. Zak Burger, 10. Chris Smith, 11. David Kriel, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. Cornal Hendricks, 14. Canan Moodie, 15. Kurt-Lee Arendse
VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Dylan Smith, 18. Francois Klopper, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. WJ Steenkamp, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Morne Steyn, 23. Stedman Gans
MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Nollis Marais – Breakdown, Russell Winter – Forwards, Chris Rossouw – Backs, Werner Kruger – Scrum Coach, Pine Pienaar – Defense Coach, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Gerhard Louwrence – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies – Senior Physiotherapist, Kyle Meyer – Physiotherapist, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, Zama Dyidi – Logistics Manager