The story of Bulls Performance in Champions Cup 2025 is already being written in contrasts, thrilling pace in one half and then a painful silence in the next. At Loftus on Saturday, the hosts raced to a 33-22 half-time lead against defending champions Union Bordeaux Bègles, only to be shut out after the break in a 46-33 defeat that exposed the same defensive cracks that have haunted their season. For a proud Pretoria union, this was a night that mixed hope with hard lessons.
First half flair, second half silence
The opening forty minutes delivered the kind of rugby that grabs the heart. The Bulls struck five tries, flipped momentum after a bright Bordeaux start, and looked alive in transition and from set piece. A Sebastian de Klerk finish, Reinhardt Ludwig’s drive, Akker van der Merwe’s reply to Maxime Lamothe, a sharp Canan Moodie burst and a late Jeandré Rudolph effort under the posts gave the hosts belief and a vibrant 33-22 cushion.
After the interval everything changed, and the shift was immediate. David Kriel saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on, Bordeaux pressed, and though the visitors were held up several times, the dam eventually broke. When Handré Pollard followed Kriel to the bin for the same infringement, the Bulls slid from control to chase, and Bordeaux helped themselves to 24 unanswered points that turned the night into an uphill trudge.
The defensive picture that refuses to change
The match did not happen in isolation, it mirrored a broader pattern that is now impossible to ignore. The Bulls have conceded 34 tries and 236 points in seven games this season, a rate that hovers near five tries per match and almost 34 points per game. Against Bordeaux they leaked seven tries at Loftus, the venue that used to double as a sanctuary.
Earlier in the United Rugby Championship they gave up 27 tries and 190 points across six fixtures, and they were sitting eighth with a negative points difference after that run. Those numbers do not just sting, they shape identity, and right now the identity is a team that can dazzle with ball in hand yet struggles to slow opponents when the pressure rises.
Discipline and small margins that turn belief into regret
Discipline framed the second half, and it cut deep. The double hit of yellow cards to Kriel and Pollard for deliberate knock-ons stacked the deck against the Bulls, and the timing could not have been worse. With the hosts down on numbers, Bordeaux’s patience and poise converted territory into tries, and the contest drifted from contestable to decisive.
Small margins compounded the mood, a theme the coach underlined. The Bulls held Bordeaux up over the line three times, then a deft kick-through allowed Louis Bielle-Biarrey to glide in and turn the scoreboard. Later a wayward home pass presented debutant Salesi Rayasi with a free runway, and that was the play that punctured any lingering optimism in Pretoria.
Ackermann under early pressure and the road ahead
This is a fresh chapter under new head coach Johan Ackermann, yet the calendar has not been kind and neither have the scoreboards. The Bulls opened the season by beating Ospreys 53-40 and Leinster 39-31 at Loftus, then endured a difficult UK tour that brought defeats to Ulster 28-7 and Glasgow Warriors 21-12, with a 28-27 edge over Connacht offering brief respite. Back home after the international break, a 43-33 upset to the Lions was followed by the sobering second half against Bordeaux.
Expectation is real in Pretoria after letting Jake White go despite three URC finals, which tells you how high the bar sits for this project. The path gets steeper in the coming days with a trip to last season’s runners-up Northampton Saints, possibly with a weakened group, and then a derby against a potentially Springbok-laden Sharks in Durban. Lose both and the pressure would escalate, with the risk of reaching the new year with three wins and six losses since the start of the campaign.
How the match unfolded in key moments
Bordeaux emerged with intent and French star Damian Penaud shrugged off tackles for the opener inside four minutes. The Bulls almost hit back instantly from a restart and a kick-through, but both chances dribbled into the dead-ball territory before a finish could land. When the opportunity finally arrived, de Klerk completed a flowing move from a scrum to settle nerves in the ninth minute.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey, a name that needs no introduction this season, skipped around defenders for a 12th-minute reply, then Ludwig broke back in kind to level at 14-14. Lamothe muscled over near the quarter mark, only for Akker van der Merwe to answer two minutes later, and with a Pollard conversion the Bulls took a 21-19 lead that felt hard-earned. A Bordeaux penalty nudged the visitors ahead before Moodie stunned Loftus with a burst of acceleration, then Rudolph cashed in under the posts after a long, surging run by de Klerk for a 33-22 interval lead.
The second half started with the stumble that changed everything. Kriel’s yellow card invited pressure, the Bulls scrambled bravely to hold Bordeaux up twice, then the body blows landed one after another. A Boris Palu finish, Pollard’s yellow, a Bielle-Biarrey strike off a kick-through, then Matthieu Jalibert’s late surge and conversion before Rayasi’s debut try, all of it added up to a scoreboard that felt like a verdict.
Loftus memories and the reality check
Loftus remembers January 2024 when the Bulls edged Bordeaux 46-40 in a 12-try thriller, a night of noise and nerve that suggested these teams would always throw sparks together. Saturday delivered the same fire in the first half, then Bordeaux’s icy composure doused the flames. For the Bulls, the reminder is blunt, the best European sides do not panic, they build pressure and wait for discipline to fray.
There is historical context to the frustration. The Bulls crashed out of last season’s Champions Cup pool with just one win, then dropped to the Challenge Cup where they beat Aviron Bayonnais before exiting against Edinburgh. They have reached the Champions Cup play-offs only once in 2023-24 and fell heavily to Northampton Saints in the quarter-finals, which gives weight to the idea that growth in Europe still requires a sturdier defensive spine.
What must change for the Bulls to be a factor in Europe
- Sharper tackle completion and cleaner set-piece detail,
- Better breakdown security, more accurate exits and fewer preventable penalties,
- Selection continuity around key leaders, and a calm response when momentum flips.
None of this is radical, and none of it dismisses the attacking gifts this group clearly has. The first half showed the strike power on the edges, the scrum platform, and the confidence to play at tempo. The task is to tether that ambition to composure and field control, especially in the ten minutes after scoring and the ten minutes after conceding, the periods where tight European games often swing.
The human side of a team searching for itself
One of the more striking elements of the night was the sight of five Springboks coming off the bench, an injection of class that would lift most sides. It did not tip the balance against the defending champions, and that is where the psychological work begins. Composure when down a man, discipline under pressure, and a reliable exit plan, that is the human edge that turns good rugby into winning rugby.
We look so good at moments and then we look average, said head coach Johan Ackermann, reflecting a mood that hung heavy over Loftus. He spoke of soul-searching, of individual and system errors, and pointed to yellow cards and avoidable penalties as the turning points that cost them the game.
Ackermann did not hide from the detail either, noting lost kick-offs, knock-ons, and breakdown lapses that granted Bordeaux easy ins. He also lamented razor-thin moments in attack, like offloads that almost stuck for Ludwig or Moodie, contrasted with Maxime Lucu claiming a ball that kick-started a Bordeaux surge the other way. The message was clear, small margins are killing big efforts.
Scorers and numbers that tell the story
Bulls scorers were Sebastian de Klerk, Reinhardt Ludwig, Akker van der Merwe, Canan Moodie and Jeandré Rudolph, with Pollard landing four of five conversions. The hosts earned a try bonus, yet the zero beside their second half will feel like the number that lingers longest.
Bordeaux scorers were Damian Penaud, Louis Bielle-Biarrey with a brace, Maxime Lamothe, Boris Palu, Matthieu Jalibert and Salesi Rayasi, while Jalibert and Maxime Lucu shared the kicking duties. The visitors’ four-try second half, coupled with the Bulls’ yellow cards, was the frame that defined the outcome.
Why this result matters beyond one pool game
The Champions Cup pool phase is unforgiving, and home defeats carry a cost that is hard to make up later. Dropping a Loftus game puts the Bulls on the back foot in a short sprint, and the immediate trip to Northampton, a side that ended their last play-off run, asks for resilience and clarity. There is no hiding from the arithmetic, in Europe you must protect your home ground and gather points wherever the schedule allows.
Even so, there is no shortage of talent in this Bulls group, and no shortage of moments that suggest a team near a breakthrough. The challenge is technical and mental, cut the penalties, tidy the breakdown, and lock in the defensive system so that a single missed tackle does not snowball into a seven-pointer. That is how you stop 24 unanswered points from being a story, and start making the story one of control.
Final word
The night at Loftus felt like a mirror held up to the young season, beauty on one side and bruises on the other. Bordeaux, the defending champions, showed why titles follow them, they were accurate, patient and ruthless when the door opened. The Bulls showed they can thrill, yet the bigger prize will only arrive when the thrilling sits inside a framework that leaks less and believes more under stress.
There is still time to shape a different narrative for this campaign, and there is no shortage of motivation. If the Bulls can turn defensive vulnerability into resolve, and if discipline matches ambition, then the conversation around Pretoria will sound different by January. The path is clear, now the work must follow, and the next stop already asks for answers.
