SA miss out on Champions Cup semi-final spot, last four confirmed

A complete review of this weekend’s Champions Cup playoffs, which saw the Bulls come up short in the quarter-final stage of the tournament.

South Africa will have no representative in the semi-finals of this competition, after the Bulls failed to progress past the quarter-finals.

The quarter-final matches threw up some incredible results, with Harlequins securing a shock win at Bordeaux, Leinster banishing old demons against La Rochelle, Northampton Saints defeating Bulls and Toulouse rolling over Exeter Chiefs in the highest-ever scoring quarter-final.

BULLS MATCH RECAP

There were 12 tries scored at Franklin’s Gardens, with the hosts earning a semi-final match-up with four-time winners Leinster at Croke Park in Dublin.

Seven tries were scored in the first-half alone, four of them for Northampton Saints and three for the weakened visitors.

The second period of this Champions Cup clash saw Northampton Saints run away with the game. Bulls fought bravely but ultimately struggled to keep up, failing to score in the second period.

Following the Champs Cup exit to Northampton Saints, the Vodacom Bulls are racing home to take on Munster, but they’ll battle the URC defending champions without captain Marcell Coetzee.

In the aftermath of the Champions Cup quarter-final defeat at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday night, White opted not to divulge the injury status of a group of front-line players who had remained in Pretoria, including Coetzee, flank Marco van Staden and World Cup-winning backs Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie.

CHAMPIONS CUP SEMI-FINAL LINEUP

Here are all the confirmed details for this year’s semi-final matches of the premier European rugby competition.

Champions Cup semi-final 1

Match: Leinster v Northampton Saints

Venue: Croke Park, Dublin

Date and time: Saturday 4 May, 18.30

TV: SuperSport

Champions Cup semi-final 2

Match: Toulouse v Harlequins

Venue: Le Stadium, Compiègne

Date and time: Sunday 5 May 16:00

TV: SuperSport

The Bulls’ full-time score graphic. Image: @BullsRugby via X.