Bulls charge to bonus-point win over Ospreys

Kurt-Lee Arendse crossed twice in the first half for Bulls

Ospreys (5) 19

Tries: Lake, Conbeer, Morris Cons: Edwards, Walsh

Bulls (26) 29

Tries: Louw, Arendse 2, Papier Cons: Chamberlain 3 Pen: Chamberlain

Bulls continued their unbeaten start to the United Rugby Championship with a bonus-point win over Ospreys.

It looked like it was going to be a long night for the hosts, with Kurt-Lee Arendse, Elrigh Louw and Embrose Papier crossing for four tries in a 20 minute onslaught.

Dewi Lake pulled one back for Ospreys before half-time.

Bulls then went down to 14 players and were dealt two yellow cards in a dramatic turn of events, and despite tries from Ryan Conbeer and Morgan Morris, Ospreys finished empty handed.

They have now only claimed one win in four games this season, while Bulls have won three from three.

Ospreys had a decent record against South African teams heading into the game, winning four of the last five fixtures, but they had never beaten Bulls in three attempts.

It took Bulls just two minutes to get on the scoresheet, with Sebastien de Klerk the quickest to pounce on a loose ball.

He fed inside to Canan Moodie who Owen Watkin did well to initially bring down, but the ball was recycled quickly and fed outside for Louw to cross.

Moodie was at the heart of the second score, he ran a beautiful line which carved up the defence before passing out wide to Arendse.

A spectacular solo effort followed, with scrum-half Papier spotting a gap off lineout ball and he rightfully backed his pace as he beat several defenders in a weaving run to the line.

A Springbok combination set up the fourth try, Willie le Roux put in a perfectly weighted chip into space for Arendse to bag his second of the evening.

Shell-shocked Ospreys were then dealt further blows with Keiran Williams (chest pains) and Tom Botha (bicep) forced to leave the field early.

But they hit back on their first threatening visit to Bulls’ 22.

Lineout ball set up a driving maul which guided Lake over the line and gave Ospreys some much needed points on the board.

Bulls almost added a fifth on the stroke of half time, Johan Grobbelaar broke the line before Marcell Coetzee looked to have crossed from close range.

But to Ospreys’ relief, the replays showed he had lost control of the ball before grounding.

Bulls ill-discipline

Bulls continued to dominate early in the second half, particularly at scrum-time, but were reduced to 14 players with David Kriel getting his marching orders.

Kriel had led with the forearm as he charged into Dan Edwards, making contact with his neck.

Bulls then went down to 13, with Louw shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on during a promising Ospreys attack.

Ospreys had 10 minutes with a two player advantage, but poor execution saw early try-scoring chances go begging.

They did finally make the numbers count, as Jac Morgan shrugged off several defenders in a charge down the wing before passing inside to Reuben Morgan-Williams who fed Conbeer to score.

Ospreys then changed their half-backs, with Wales scrum-half Keiran Hardy making his Ospreys debut, but Bulls managed the game well, preventing any momentum as the clock ran down.

Ospreys were given another chance to face 13 players when Alulutho Tshakweni was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Garyn Phillips, but again, they could not make numbers count.

Chamberlain kicked a late penalty, before Ospreys had the final say and it was fitting that Morris scored on his 100th Ospreys appearance.

It was a huge personal milestone for the number eight, but on a disappointing night for Ospreys.

Ospreys head coach Toby Booth said: "You look at what they put out there, and you know you are going to have to be at your best and really clinical.

"We weren't accurate last week against Munster, we weren't against Dragons, we were against Stormers and that's always the battle, there's people on the other side trying to stop you from doing that.

"For us, if we want to become the team that we want to be we need greater accuracy, because if you're not accurate, the very best teams will punish you and they punished us big style.

"I'm not a person to dress it up, we do need to be better. You have got to get yourself into the contest."

Ospreys: Max Nagy; Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Ryan Conbeer; Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, James Ratti, Adam Beard, Jac Morgan (capt), Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris.

Replacements: Sam Parry, Garyn Phillips, Ben Warren, Lewis Jones, Will Greatbanks, Kieran Hardy, Luke Scully, Jack Walsh.

Bulls: Willie le Roux; Sebastian de Klerk, Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Boeta Chamberlain, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw, Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje (capt), Marcell Coetzee, Reinhardt Ludwig, Elrigh Louw.

Replacements: Akker van der Merwe, Alulutho Tshakweni, Francois Klopper, Cobus Wiese, Cameron Hanekom, Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans, Aphiwe Dyantyi

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

Assistant referees: Ben Breakspear & Ben Connor (WRU)

TMO: Colin Stanley (IRFU)