Referee Ben Whitehouse blows the whistle and we're off here in Pretoria.

Nathan Doak kicks off deep into Bulls territory.

A box kick is knocked on by Kurt-Lee Arendse and Ulster have the first put in to the scrum.

Both sides are finishing up their warmup and the Loftus Versfeld Stadium is filling up.

A warm (25 degrees), dry afternoon in Pretoria makes ideal conditions for running rugby, however the altitude of 1,350m above sea level will be draining particularly for the visitors.

Only a few minutes to go until kick-off.

"Well, there’s no money in horses I know that for sure."

As he explains why he did not watch much sport growing up, Ulster's James McNabney recalls being left with an unusual decision.

Equestrian or rugby?

The back-row forward, who starts for the northern province against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday, earned representative honours on horseback long before he did with the oval ball, named on mounted games teams for Northern Ireland and Great Britain while a teenager.

"It got to a stage where I had to decide whether I wanted to be skinny and ride a horse or whether I wanted to put weight on and play rugby," says the 21-year-old.

"There was no real pressure, because at that stage I didn’t know whether I was going to become a professional rugby player or not. Well, there’s no money in horses I know that for sure.

"I’m happy with my decision and really enjoying my rugby so far so I’ll just see where it takes me."

Read more of what McNabney had to say here.

Image source, Inpho

Ulster have made nine changes from last weekend's 35-22 defeat by the Lions for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against the Bulls in Pretoria (15:00 BST).

Iain Henderson returns to the starting line-up to captain the Irish province as the pack shows six changes in personnel from a week ago.

James McCormick and Corrie Barrett, who scored a try after coming off the bench last weekend, take over from John Andrew and Tom O'Toole in the front row.

Henderson and Charlie Irwin replace Kieran Treadwell and last weekend's skipper Alan O'Connor in the lock positions with James McNabney and David McCann taking over from Matty Rea and Nick Timoney in the back row.

Behind the scrum, Mike Lowry comes in for Ethan McIlroy at full-back with Ben Carson named at centre in place of Stuart McCloskey and Nathan Doak taking over from John Cooney at scrum-half.

McCormick, Carson and academy lock Irvine will be making their first Ulster starts with hooker Tadgh McElroy and development fly-half, James Humphreys also in line to make their debut for the Irish province after being named in the replacements.

O'Toole, O'Connor and Timoney drop to a replacements bench that also includes Dave Shanahan as Cooney is not named in the matchday squad.

Henderson started in Ulster's opening home win over defending champions Glasgow and came on a 51st-minute replacement for Treadwell last weekend as Ulster secured a four-try losing bonus point.

The Bulls have only played one game so far which was last weekend's 22-16 home win over Edinburgh.

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.

Image source, BBC Sport

Ulster assistant Jonny Bell believes his side will need to improve "technically" rather than physically in order to get the best of the Bulls in Loftus Versfeld.

The northern province were beaten 35-22 by the Lions in Johannesburg last weekend with Bell describing the players as "bitterly disappointed" by their performance in the second game of their United Rugby Championship season.

The Bulls, who had a large contingent on Springboks duty during the Rugby Championship, are one of the most physical sides in the competition but Bell knows Ulster cannot simply try to match them "toe to toe" in that regard.

"Physically, they challenge you and then they've any number of players who like to get you one on one and are dangerous," said the side's defensive specialist.

"When you play a lot of these South African teams, trying to go toe to toe with very big men, we're never going to win a battle of size."

Image source, Getty Images

Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of today's United Rugby Championship games between the Bulls and Ulster at 15:00 BST and Benetton against Leinster at 17:15.

Ulster will look to bounce back from last week's defeat by the Lions in the first match of their tour to South Africa in Pretoria while the Bulls will fancy their chances of making it two wins out of two by building on last week's home success over Edinburgh.

Leinster meanwhile have tasted victory over Edinburgh and the Dragons in their opening two fixtures, with Benetton still looking for their first win after drawing with the Scarlets and then losing away to Glasgow Warriors.

We'll have live audio coverage and text updates of the Bulls-Ulster game, followed by text commentary of the Benetton-Leinster encounter so you won't miss a thing!

Stay tuned and enjoy!