Investec Champions Cup
Bulls (28) 49
Tries: Rudolph, Jacobs 2, Penalty, Kriel, de Klerk, Le Roux Cons: Pollard 6
Bristol: (47) 61
Tries: Janse van Rensburg, Lahiff, Heward 3, Ravouvou 2, Marmion, Rubiolo Cons: Jordan 8
Bristol qualified for the Champions Cup knockout stage by winning an astonishing 16-try, 110-point contest with the Bulls in Pretoria.
The Bears raced into a 21-0 lead after seven minutes and had secured the bonus point inside the opening 15 minutes through Kalaveti Ravouvou.
The incredibly open nature of the game continued as Bears wing Noah Heward completed a first-half hat-trick and Stravino Jacobs scored two for the Bulls to make the score 47-28 at the break.
In the second half, Pedro Rubiolo crossed and Ravouvou added his second to take Bristol out to 61-35, which proved too much for the Bulls to make up despite threatening an unlikely comeback through late scores from Sebastian de Klerk and Willie le Roux.
Victory moves Bears top of Pool 4 before the rerun of last year’s final between Northampton and Bordeaux on Sunday and puts them in a strong position for a home tie in the last 16, although they do have to negotiate a tough home game against the French holders on 18 January.
The match looked like it would set a new record for aggregate points in a Champions Cup match at one stage.
However, at 110, it fell the equivalent of two converted tries short, meaning the record still stands at 124, which was racked up in a match between Toulouse and Ebbw Vale in 1998-99.
That game also saw the French side set the competition record for most tries by a single team in a match at 16, while the Bulls and Bears shared 16 tries between them in Pretoria.
In a remarkable opening, Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Max Lahiff strolled over before Heward intercepted a Bulls pass to race over from distance.
The Bulls got on the scoreboard after 13 minutes when Jeandre Rudolph collected a loose ball to dive over but it did nothing to dent Bristol’s momentum and they claimed the try bonus point after 15 minutes.
Heward grabbed his second with an acrobatic finish before Kieran Marmion crossed and by the time Jacobs had scored his second for the ninth try of the contest the score was 42-21 after 28 minutes.
Jacobs was denied a hat-trick just before the break when Bears full-back Rich Lane illegally knocked the ball out of play, which resulted in a yellow card for Lane and a penalty try to bring up a try bonus point for the Bulls.
There was still time in the first half for Heward to chase and gather a kick in behind to claim his hat-trick and make it 47-28 at the break.
Bulls centre David Kriel scored four minutes into the second half to reduce the gap to 12 but Rubiolo replied for Bristol after Bulls full-back Le Roux was yellow-carded for slowing the ball down while defending his line.
A fortunate bounce allowed Ravouvou to grab his second before De Klerk and Le Roux crossed for the Bulls and Bristol required an excellent tap-tackle from Janse van Rensburg to stop Mpilo Gumede scoring a 17th try of the day.
Bristol finish the pool stage with a testing home fixture against holders Bordeaux Begles on 18 January (13:00 GMT), while the Bulls, who can still qualify, travel to Pau on Friday (20:00).
Bulls: Le Roux; de Klerk, Kriel, Vorster, Jacobs; Pollard, Papier; Wessels, Grobbelaar, Louw, Wiese, Nortje (capt), Van Staden, Louw, Rudolph.
Replacements: Van der Merwe, Steenekamp, Smith, Vermaak, Gumede, Burger, Gans, Petersen.
Yellow card: Le Roux (56)
Bristol: Lane; Heward, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ravouvou; Jordan, Marmion; Lahiff, Oghre, Kloska, Rubiolo, Batley, S Grondona, Harding (capt), Mata.
Replacements: Thacker, Genge, Halliwell, Owen, B Grondona, Randall, Worsley, Moroni.
Yellow card: Lane (38)
Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
Assistant referees: Jeremy Rozier (Fra), Benjamin Hernandez (Fra)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (Fra)
