Bradford Bulls battle but lose semi to strong Toulouse side

This was the closest Bradford had come to making Super League since 2015, and while they showed plenty of promise in attack, they will be cursing the concession of some soft tries that allowed their opponents to make it to the Million Pound Game in their stead.

While Bradford might have got away with that against lesser teams, the powerful, full-time French side were never going to pass up on those opportunities.

Backed by a huge army of travelling fans, some of whom had only arrived in France 90 minutes before kick-off, Bradford made a couple of promising early breaks downfield, but the first huge chance came Toulouse’s way on the left.

Bulls made a bright start in attack, with the likes of Jorge Taufua, Kieran Gill and Ben Blackmore (right), seeing plenty of the ball in attacking positions in the early stages. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Josh Ralph should have put Benjamin Laguerre into score, but he threw the ball too far in front of his winger, who would have been in to score otherwise.

Bulls suffered an early blow when Jason Baitieri was sent to the sin bin for a late hit on Ralph.

Toulouse almost scored a try from the advantage given before the yellow card was dished out, as Tom Holmes lost the challenge for the high ball, but the ball was knocked on by the French side in the process.

With Baitieri off the field, Toulouse crossed the line for the first time when Zachary Santo flipped a long pass out to Benjamin Laguerre, but it went forward so Bulls earned the scrum.

Baitieri’s yellow did eventually proved costly when Toulouse powered through the middle.

AJ Wallace found himself in an offside position and unable to make the tackle, which allowed Calum Gahan to keep hold of the ball until the last possible moment during his charging run.

He then took Holmes out of the game by passing to Santo, who sauntered over the line. The try-scorer subsequently added the extras too.

Despite Baitieri returning to the fray, Toulouse were soon in for their second when some good hands down the left saw them break the Bulls line.

That was somewhat controversial given George Flanagan had appeared to be pushed over off the ball earlier in the set.

Play carried on and Maxime Stefani charged into Holmes on the line, with his sheer determination seeing the second row overpower the Bulls full-back and the helping Eribe Doro to score.

Bulls got themselves right back in it after a penalty for a foul on Fenton Rogers.

The subsequent set saw the ball worked from right to left, and Lee Gaskell launched a pass out to Jorge Taufua in acres of space.

The Toulouse men closed in on the winger but he had the strength to force his way to the line, and reached out to touch down in the corner.

Jordan Lilley’s superb touchline kick just had the legs to make it over the posts as the Bulls closed to within four points.

Jordan Lilley's kicking from the tee and the hand was impressive all evening. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Toulouse hit back far too quickly for Bulls’ liking. They had numbers down the left, a five versus three, and Ralph has the simple task of offloading to Guy Armitage a few metres out, who strolled over the line.

Robin Brochon added the extras to put Toulouse’s lead back into double figures and a soft fourth try soon followed for the hosts.

Toulouse had numbers on the left but Laguerre still had 10 metres to go and caught the ball from virtually a standing start.

He was allowed to saunter inside far too easily though, slipping past a handful of half-hearted challenges before flopping over the line for a converted score.

A professional foul by Santo as Ben Blackmore put the ball down after a tackle gifted Bradford a penalty on the hooter, Lilley accepting the gift to claw his side back to 22-8 down at the break.

But any momentum gained from that penalty was quickly wasted by conceding another soft try at the start of the second half.

Ralph feinted to pass right before ducking inside on the left, but the Bulls defence could have read that basic move far better, and the half-back was able to squeeze over the line too easily, with Brochon converting the score.

Toulouse errors have been few and far between all season, but when a high ball was dropped by Laguerre, it fell straight into Michael Lawrence's hands.

He flicked it off to Eribe Doro, who got it out of the back of the hand to Chester Butler, and the second row offloaded to Joe Arundel for the centre to score.

Joe Arundel about to cross the line for Bulls' second try, with delighted visiting fans in the background. (Image: Tom Pearson)

Lilley’s conversion reduced the deficit to 14 points.

A leg injury to Kieran Gill, who pulled up while charging down the left, was a blow for Bulls and Toulouse increased the gap again just after the hour mark.

They worked the ball towards the right, and despite a big collision, the final pass found Paul Marcon out wide.

Holmes tried a last-ditch lunge to knock him into touch, but failed, and the winger dived over in the corner to make the score 32-14 to the hosts.

The tiniest bit of hope for Bulls arrived with seven minutes to go, as a brilliant overhead offload from Doro was well collected by Keven Appo, who shimmied and scored under the posts.

Lilley added the extras, leaving Bradford needing two converted scores to level with an extraordinary comeback.

Keven Appo gave Bulls a glimmer of hope late on, but Toulouse always just about managed to keep their visitors at arm's length. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

But a forward pass in Bulls’ next attack immediately forced them on to the back foot, and Laguerre flew over in the corner to seal Bradford’s fate once and for all.

Another season outside of Super League beckons for Bulls then, but the massive strides made this year compared to last, on and off the field, surely gives hope that a return to the top flight might not be too far away after all.

TOULOUSE: Santo, Marcon, M. Laguerre, Armitage, B. Laguerre, Brochon, Ralph, Belmas, Gahan, Hansen, Lima, Stefani, Marion. Interchanges: Pelissier, Akauola, Bretherton, Peyroux. 18th man: Biscarro.

BULLS: Holmes, Blackmore, Arundel, Gill, Taufua, Gaskell, Lilley, Lawrence, Flanagan, Doro, Butler, Wallace, Baitieri. Interchanges: Jowitt, Rogers, Appo, Okoro. 18th man: Wynne.

BULLS MAN OF MATCH: Jorge Taufua.