Those old enough to remember Frans Ludeke’s reign at Loftus Versfeld will also remember he had a famous saying: Speed Kills.
And that was nowhere more apparent than on Saturday as the Vodacom Bulls opened their Investec Champions’ account with a 56-20 demolition of French side Stade Francais in the Pretoria heat.
SA under-20 speedster Cheswill Jooste scored after just 20 seconds - possibly the fastest try in the competition for a long time - and followed it up with two more - within 20 seconds of each other late in the game, to claim his hat-trick and help his side to the five points on offer.
The Vodacom Bulls get the perfect start in the #InvestecChampionsCup 🐂🔵 #SSRugby https://t.co/Hhk7sp0ykk
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 17, 2026
And while it is difficult to be critical of the second fifty point win in as many weeks, there still are a number of issues that coach Johan Ackermann needs to work on with his side.
For a team with so much pace and dominance, they were wasteful. A try was disallowed because captain Elrigh Louw held onto the opposition flanker at the scrum, two five metre lineouts were lost and there were a host of 22 metre entries - clear try scoring opportunities - that were ruined by handling errors.
BULLS WASTED TOO MANY POINTS STILL
If the Bulls had taken even half of them the French side would be trudging home with an 80 point loss. With the new tournament rules placing a premium on points difference for qualification for the knockout rounds, these points are crucial in the long run.
But 50 at Loftus is never anything to be too critical about, and it was when the bench came on - with Willie le Roux at 10 and Handre Pollard at 12 when the slow poison took effect and the French side ran out of legs.
There is an irony in the Champions’ Cup of seeing South African teams criticised for sending second string sides to away games at times, only to see Stade Francais make 13 changes from their team that beat Montpellier in last weekend’s Top 14 game. In all they made 19 changes to the 23 man side, so calling this a second string side isn’t too far from the mark.
But they were competitive, scoring twice - mainly thanks to the Bulls giving them easy exits in the first half and being wasteful at times in the second.
Still, the real disappointment was that the Bulls created so many opportunities, it would have been great to see them finish more.
SPEED IN THE BACKLINE
The pace in their backline - the killer speed option - revolves around Jooste, Sebastian de Klerk and now Luan Giliomee, who impressed with the limited ball he got at the back. Add to that the running lines of Paul de Wet, revelling in the great platform set up by the pack and there are several dangerous options for the Bulls to utilise on attack.
A hat-trick to complete his Player of the Match performance 🐂🔵 Cheswill Jooste put on a show in Pretoria 🔥 #InvestecChampionsCup | #SSRugby https://t.co/QEISijxtJE
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 17, 2026
And the pack did dominate. Most impressive was the scrum, where the “reserve” front row of Alulutho Tshakweni and Khutha Mchunu dominated their opposition, and it went further when Springbok Gerhard Steenekamp and tighthead Francois Klopper arrived in the second half.
Add to that a flawless kicking display by Pollard from the tee and the Bulls can feel very satisfied for their day at work.
The stats underline that story. There were 14 clean breaks to 2, 32 defenders beaten by the Bulls (to 17). And nine turnovers by the Bulls made a massive difference.
But possibly the best moment of the game came from the cult hero of Loftus Versfeld himself - Jeandre Rudolph.
RUDOLPH’S TRY A BEAUTY
On from the bench, and finding himself on the wing as the Bulls transitioned into attack, Rudolph steamed ahead, chipped over the defender, toed it ahead and took the bounce brilliantly for an individual try. Not too shabby for an aging 32 year old flanker.
Opening round and there's an early contender for Try of the Season 🤯💥 Jeandre Rudolph gets Loftus on its feet 👏 📺 Stream #InvestecChampionsCup on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw https://t.co/lT1ZklDXdu
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 17, 2026
Still, it was Jooste’s pace that earned him the man of the match award, and it was clear why.
His speed chasing the grubber from Harold Vorster on the Bulls first attack saw him get to the ball on 20 seconds, and give the Bulls a handsome start.
If you blink, you'll miss it 😮⚡️ Harold Voster and Cheswill Jooste cook up a storm inside 20 seconds 😮💨🔥 📺 Stream #InvestecChampionsCup DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw https://t.co/YZmfEIDpu3
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 17, 2026
The Bulls used their width well, and found themselves on the attack again, but just as it looked as if they would score, they gave the ball back to the French side. Mchunu emerged just thereafter as the most unlikely jackler, turning the ball over, with Giliomee providing a short pass for a rampaging Cobus Wiese to double the score.
But despite having more than enough chances to plant an early knockout blow, it was only in the 36th minute when Cameron Hanekom took a quick tap five metres from the line and powered his way over.
Before that Stade had kicked two penalties for a 21-6 halftime score.
It was the visitors who scored through South African born lock Jacques Botha early in the second half but the Bulls negated that through Marco van Staden’s try at the back of a rolling maul.
SIGNS OF A COMEBACK
But when Petero Mailulu went over shortly afterwards, there was a brief concern that Stade could mount a comeback.
The Bulls snuffed this out quickly though as the bench arrived and Rudolph sparked life into them again with his solo try.
Le Roux started an attack shortly afterwards with a kick pass to Jooste and then finished it with a kick pass to Jan-Hendrik Wessels in the in-goal area, which needed the TMO to confirm a very close call as Wessels got the ball down millimetres from the dead ball line.
From there on it was the Jooste show, as a skip pass from Le Roux sent him in for his second try and a clean break from the resulting kickoff, and then pinning his ears back and backing his speed brought his third.
It was an exceptional end to a scorching day of rugby where the Bulls showed they can be devastating on attack, and still have more to work on.
Scorers
Vodacom Bulls - tries: Cheswill Jooste (3), Cameron Hanekom, Marco van Staden, Jeandre Rudolph, Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Conversions: Handre Pollard (8).
Stade Francais - tries: Jacques Botha, Petero Mailulu. Conversions: Louis Foursans-Bourdette (2). Penalties: Ihaia West, Foursans-Bourdette.