United Rugby Championship: Bulls Triumph Over Ulster 47 to 21
The expected win unfolded as the Bulls exhibited their prowess against Ulster, edging close to half a century of points, thanks to their Springbok-stacked team netting seven tries.
Throughout most of the northern province’s back-to-back matches at high altitude, the Bulls established notable dominance over Ulster’s scrum. By half-time, they were in the lead at 21-7, extending it to 40-7 before Ulster could add any further to their tally.
Ulster, regaining some momentum, saw Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson, and Stewart Moore secure tries. Mirroring last week’s situation in Johannesburg, they found themselves within striking distance of an improbable bonus point try in Pretoria. However, a strong comeback from Jake White’s squad extinguished that opportunity.
For their coach, Richie Murphy, introducing a host of less seasoned players made this an arduous, yet anticipated conclusion to Ulster’s two-game short tour. The team must now regroup swiftly ahead of their encounter with Connacht in Belfast the following Saturday.
Five minutes into the game with a penalty advantage and a strong scrum, Kurt-Lee Arendse sliced through the defense to score, with Boeta Chamberlain adding the points.
Despite this, Ulster identified and leveraged a vulnerability in the Bulls’ defense which Aidan Morgan exploited, landing a perfect cross-kick for Jacob Stockdale. He deftly sidestepped Arendse, outwitted Willie le Roux, collected the rebound and reached the line for a try.
Initially, Nathan Doak levelled the score, but it wasn’t long before the Bulls replicated a similar feat. Le Roux’s chip to the wing found Chamberlain, who evaded Lowry, bested the remaining cover and set David Kriel free. Chamberlain’s conversion increased their lead to 14-7.
Ulster’s scrum performance was a disappointment, amassing six penalties by the half-hour mark. This led to referee Ben Whitehouse losing patience and showing prop Corrie Barrett the yellow card. The Bulls seized this opportunity promptly, scoring a maul try through Johan Grobbelaar, which Chamberlain successfully converted. Despite being down to 14 men, Ulster had a commendable end to the first half while pushing for a score, but a knock-on from Morgan after receiving a pass from Stewart Moore halted their efforts. The score remained 21-7 as the sides returned to their respective dressing rooms.
Upon resuming action, the Bulls showed their intent by securing their bonus point within a minute. This was courtesy of a determined run by Canan Moodie, courtesy of an assist from Kriel who also handled the conversion as Ulster returned to full squad strength. An encouraging Ulster offensive attack was penalised leading to Chamberlain booting to the corner. The resulting driving maul saw Cameron Hanekom bagging try number five for the hosts, but it was left unconverted.
Obstruction by Le Roux saw Moodie’s second try of the day dismissed, but shortly after, Chamberlain scored with Kriel managing the successful conversion to bring the host’s score to 40 points. Undeterred, Ulster charged on and in the final 12 minutes, Ben Carson was seen darting towards the corner after a sublime pass from James Humphreys, who also added the conversion. Just three minutes later, Ulster seized a third try, credited to Moore and converted by Humphreys.
Towards the end, with only three minutes remaining, Elrigh Louw managed to score for the Bulls, which was then converted by Keagan Johannes.
The Bulls team was constituted by W le Roux, S de Klerk, C Moodie, D Kriel, K-L Arendse, B Chamberlain, E Papier, G Steenekamp, J Grobbelaar, W Louw, C Wiese, R Nortje (capt), M van Staden, E Louw, C Hanekom.
Substitutes: A van der Merwe took the place of Grobbelaar at the 56-minute mark, J-H Wessels came on for Steenkamp at 60 minutes, F Klopper replaced W Louw at 59 minutes, S Manjezi swapped for Wiese after 60 minutes, C Gumede was on for Hanekom from 55-68minutes, K Johannes relieved Papier at 60 minutes, S Gans went in for Kriel after 68 minutes, A Dyantyi switched for Arendse at the 70-minute point. On the Ulster team, M Lowry, W Kok, S Moore, B Carson, J Stockdale, A Morgan, N Doak, A Warwick, J McCormick, C Barrett, I Henderson (captain), C Irvine, J McNabney, S Reffell, D McCann featured. Their replacements were T McElroy for McCormick at 51 minutes, E O’Sullivan for Warwick at 49 minutes, T O’Toole replaced Raffell from 31-41 minutes and later Barrett at 49 minutes, A O’Connor was a substitute for Henderson after 51 minutes, N Timoney took over McCann at 58 minutes, D Shanahan went in for Doak at 59 minutes, J Humphreys replaced Morgan after 61 minutes, and B Moxham filled in for Stockdale at 58 minutes. The match was officiated by referee B Whitehouse of the WRU.