Ulster lose heavily to Bulls in URC encounter

Bulls (21) 47

Tries: Lee-Arundse, Kriel, Grobbelaar, Moodie, Hanekom, Chamberlain, Louw Cons: Chamberlain 3, Kriel 2, Johannes

Ulster (7) 21

Tries: Stockdale, Carson, Moore Cons: Doak, Humphreys 2

The Bulls rampaged to a convincing seven-try 47-21 win over Ulster, who themselves crossed three times to fall just short of securing a bonus point in the United Rugby Championship contest at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.

The result represents a second successive defeat in South Africa for the Irish province, who went down to the Lions last week after defeating Glasgow in their season opener.

Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel and Johan Grobbelaar scored tries for last year's beaten finalists in the first half, with Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain and Elrigh Louw crossing after the interval.

Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson and Stewart Moore were Ulster's try-scorers.

For the Bulls, it is two wins for two to start their campaign after they overcame Edinburgh last weekend.

Ulster host Connacht in seven days' time while the Bulls travel to face Ospreys in their next league fixture.

Dominant Bulls set-piece

The Bulls achieved tangible reward for their early dominance of territory and possession when wing Arendse found a gap in the Ulster defence and darted over the line for the opening try, Chamberlain adding the first of his three first-half conversions.

Ulster's reply was emphatic and scintillating to watch as Stockdale collected a perfectly weighted cross-field kick from Aidan Morgan, chipped the ball over the Bulls defence, gathered again and showed a fine turn of pace to crash over in the corner, Nathan Doak contributing the additional two points.

Come the 14th minute the hosts had restored their seven-point advantage and again it was a converted score to behold.

Willie le Roux executed a pinpoint cross-field lick into the hands of Sebastien de Klerk on the wing and he passed inside to Kriel who raced over the whitewash.

The Bulls continued to use the set-piece effectively and bossed the scrum as their opponents struggled to cope with the power of the home side.

Tight-head prop Corrie Barrett was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements and during his absence Bulls notched their third try in the 34th minute.

A powerful line-out maul culminated in Grobbelaar crashing over as his side secured a 14-point lead at the break despite a spirited Ulster resistance.

Ulster's Sean Reffell is tackled by Sintu Manjezi of the Bulls

Try-fest in Pretoria

It took less than two minutes for the South African team to increase their lead after the restart, centre Moodie completing a flowing move by touching down beside the posts for his team's bonus-point score.

A few minutes short of the hour mark, number eight Hanekom barged over from another powerful Bulls maul, with Moodie subsequently crossing but having his 'try' ruled out for obstruction after referee Ben Whitehouse consulted the Television Match Official [TMO] and adjudged that Le Roux had prevented the Ulster defender making a tackle.

That proved to be only a temporary reprieve for the Irish side as soon after Chamberlain got his name among the try-scorers, spotting a gap in Ulster's midfield and producing a dummy before dotting down behind the posts.

The visitors responded to reduce their deficit when Carson shrugged off a couple of attempted tackles and went over in the corner and then Moore put the finishing touch to a fabulous try, racing over after the ball had gone impressively through the hands.

Humphreys converted both tries to further cut the arrears but flanker Louw rumbled over from close range from the back of a ruck for his side's seventh try in the closing stages, Keagan Johannes landing the extras on this occasion.

Team line-ups

Bulls: Willie le Roux, Sebastian de Klerk, Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Boeta Chamberlain, Embrose Papier, Cameron Hanekom, Elrigh Louw (captain), Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje (captain), Cobus Wiese, Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp

Replacements: Akker van der Merwe, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Francois Klopper, Sintu Manjezi, Mpilo Gumede, Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans, Aphiwe Dyantyi

Ulster: Mike Lowry; Werner Kok, Stewart Moore, Ben Carson, Jacob Stockdale; Aidan Morgan, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, James McCormick, Corrie Barrett; Iain Henderson(capt), Charlie Irwin; James McNabney, Sean Reffell, David McCann.

Replacements: Tadhg McElroy, Eric O’Sullivan, Tom O'Toole, Alan O'Connor, Nick Timoney, Dave Shanahan, James Humphreys, Ben Moxham.