Following Glasgow Warriors’ 25-21 victory over the Bulls, here are our five takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup round of 16 clash at Scotstoun Stadium.
The top line
Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors march on to the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 Champions Cup after muscling past the Bulls in a closely fought, niggly knockout match that Storm Dave threatened to spoil, but the 2024 URC finalists did not allow that to be the case as they produced a thrilling encounter, rewarding those who braved the conditions.
It took some time for the teams to adjust to the torrential rain, with Handre Pollard opening the visitors’ account in the 12th minute with a penalty. Glasgow’s counter punch came five minutes later as Stafford McDowall made a cracking break. Matt Fagerson was pulled down just short before Max Williamson powered over.
The Warriors were far more fancied heading into the clash but the Bulls certainly weren’t going to make it easy for them with David Kriel producing a delicious offload to send Johan Grobbelaar over in the corner.
The lead continued to change hands as Jack Dempsey powered over from close range after Glasgow’s rolling maul was brought down in the 33rd minute but Pollard had the final say of the half with a penalty as the Bulls led 12-14 at half-time.
Tries for Patrick Schickerling and McDowall gave Glasgow an eight-point buffer in the final ten minutes before Marco van Staden made it a one-point lead with four minutes left to play but the Warriors held out for the win as Adam Hastings dissected the posts with the final kick of the match.
Glasgow feel the brunt of Storm Dave
While Smith will be pleased with the final result, he will be demanding improvements when Glasgow host a Champions Cup quarter-final for the first time next weekend when they face RC Toulon.
The conditions made it nigh on impossible for lengthy attacking passages of play, and that is evident with the number of turnovers the Warriors conceded. On 17 occasions, they coughed up possession, more than double the Bulls’ eight.
The Warriors train in testing conditions, and perhaps they felt they should stick to their guns and expansive attacking game. The Bulls weren’t able to capitalise on the opportunities that Glasgow presented to them, but RC Toulon might.
Bulls return to default settings
Since Johan Ackermann took over from Jake White as head coach, he has instilled a more attacking brand of rugby but that was shelved today due to the conditions and the Bulls leaned on their traditional strengths.
Pollard kicked the leather off the ball, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Cheswill Jooste contested brilliantly in the air to force errors while Embrose Papier made good use of the big-bodied forwards coming around the corner.
Storm Dave ensured that this was never going to be a free-flowing attacking game, and with the odds stacked against them tackling a powerhouse Glasgow team in Scotstoun, the men from Pretoria rose to the challenge.
Historically, the Bulls are renowned for their forward and kick-heavy style of play, and as much as Ackermann wants that to change, he will be pleased that his charges adapted to what was in front of them and stuck in the fight against one of the best teams in Europe and at one of the most difficult venues in club rugby.
Pollard was a crucial cog in the Bulls performance, with the double World Cup winner well-versed and suited for such conditions. The 32-year-old is not an expansive, attacking number ten, but he is a masterful tactician and game manager, which was pivotal.
The set-pieces is another area of the game where the Bulls stepped up to the mark. The scrum was hit-and-miss with the officials but they were driving the Warriors’ pack backwards more often than not. More crucially, Ruan Nortje put in a performance reminiscent of Victor Matfield at lineout time with both teams fiercely competing on the throws.
When he wasn’t nicking one of Gregor Hiddleston’s darts, he was spoiling Glasgow’s possession, making it even more difficult for the Warriors to attack from.
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South Africa’s EPCR journey concludes
And then there were none. The Sharks, Stormers and now Bulls all saw their EPCR journeys this season come to a close this weekend as the South African teams continue to struggle in the Champions Cup.
The Sharks weren’t able to replicate their 2024 success in the Challenge Cup while the Stormers and Bulls were incredibly competitive in their knockout matches but failed to grind out the victory.
A South African team is still yet to progress past the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup and this year, the round of 16 was the hurdle they couldn’t overcome. But it’s plainly obvious that if they are to go further into the tournament next season, they will need to take the pool stage matches more seriously, as winning on the road in the knockouts is no easy feat.
Toulouse were beaten in their last visit to Scotsoun, and the French giants have far more financial pull and player depth than the Bulls, but Ackermann’s men would have stood a much better chance of beating the Warriors had the game taken place in Pretoria.
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Magnificent McDowall and maddening Marco
There were top-quality performances littered throughout the respective matchday 23 but McDowall was quite rightly picked as the Player of the Match, vindicating Smith’s decision to select him over British and Irish Lion Huw Jones.
The 28-year-old sparked the attack that led to the opening try, grabbed one of his own later in the match and put his booming boot to good use to pin the Bulls back in their own half. Defensively, he was a sound and hardly put a foot wrong with ball in hand.
Rory Darge and Fagerson were standouts in the Glasgow pack while it was a memorable performance for Shickerling too.
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Had the Bulls managed to clinch the result, Grobbelaar could well have picked up McDowall’s award as the Springboks hooker racked up a mammoth 29 tackles – seven more than the next best tally posted by Darge. He also pitched in with a try, 10 carries and a 90% lineout success rate. Malcolm Marx is very clearly the first-choice hooker for the Springboks but Grobbelaar is continuing to strengthen his claim for more minutes in the Green and Gold jersey.
Meanwhile, it was an eventful cameo off the bench from Van Staden who was listed as Grobbelaar’s back-up at hooker but featured in the back-row instead. The World Cup winner brought his usual energy and aggression but was guilty of gifting Glasgow the opportunity to clinch the result and one they did not pass up on. He conceded the penalty for dragging Josh McKay into touch, after the tackle had already been completed and compounded the error with the afters that marched Glasgow 10 metres further up the pitch. The Warriors capitalised with McDowall going over in the corner.
Van Staden looked to have rectified his mistake by scoring a try soon after but the damage had been done and it left the Bulls too big of a mountain to climb.
While the Bulls rose to the challenge in many respects, the difference between winning and losing today lay with their discipline as they conceded 14 penalties to the Warriors’ eight.
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