Bulls claim convincing win over Ulster but still need to tighten up defence

It was not the complete performance yet, but with their overpowering scrum, excellent work at the breakdown, and a backline ready to run, the Bulls floored Ulster with a 47-21 win on Saturday in Pretoria.

With props Wilco Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp at the forefront, the scrum display by the home side set the platform for them to pick up five vital points as they embark on their European tour in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

The two wins at home – after beating Edinburgh last weekend – will be vital momentum for the Bulls, who are still looking to find that rhythm for an 80-minute performance. That will hopefully come with their first match overseas with all of the returning Springboks getting some good minutes under their belt now.

While the scrums were certainly the most pleasing aspect of the Bulls' game where Steenekamp and Louw overpowered their opponents and even milked a yellow card, the individual contributions from loose trio Cameron Hanekom, Elrigh Louw, and Marco van Staden were outstanding. Louw, who scored alongside Hanekom, was at the forefront of the hard yards with the carries and tackles, while eighth man Hanekom was a perfect link between the backs. He also contributed with three penalty steals at the breakdown.

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Veteran van Staden was a big nuisance at the breakdown and if he didn't make turnovers, he made sure Ulster had little clean breakdown possession to attack from.

Those initial scrum penalties led to the first of the Bulls' seven tries when winger Kurt-Lee Arendse wriggled through some tackles to go over untouched. The ball was moved swiftly through the hands from five meters out after another strong scrum with the Ulster scramble defence unable to stop the attack.

When the Irish visitors scored a couple of minutes later through some ordinary defence by the Pretoria side, it looked like it could've been a more tighter contest despite their scrum woes. Winger Jacob Stockdale collected a neat crossfield kick, skinned Arendse on the touchline and chipped the covering defence of flyhalf Sebastian de Klerk to go over for a beauty of an Ulster five-pointer.

But two more tries in the first half, via midfielder David Kriel after a neat cross-field kick by fullback Willie le Roux and hooker Johan Grobbelaar, ensured the first half belonged to the hosts and their scrummagers.

Four more scores after the break – the first coming right after the start of the second half through outside centre Canan Moodie – saw the Bulls run away with the victory, but taking their foot off the accelerator to allow Ulster to score two more tries at the death will not sit well with their defensive coach.

Their exit play after scoring points is another aspect of their gameplan that must tighten up ahead of their overseas clashes. Director of Rugby Jake White will be happy with the integration of the Boks and the injection of experience they brought.

Points scorers:

Bulls 47 (19): Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Chamberlain (3), Kriel (2), Keagan Johannes.

Ulster 21 (7): Tries: Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson, Stewart Moore. Conversions: Nathan Doak, James Humphries (2).