The Vodacom Bulls produced a solid performance all around to outplay Ulster 47-21 at their fortress Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, with the hosts building up a 21-07 halftime lead, and they continued to make their presence felt and capitalise on their chances in the second half to outplay the Irish giants.
The win marked the 2023/24 finalists second in a row this season, and they will be particularly impressed with their attack which saw them score seven tries while limiting the visitors to three – only one of which was scored in the first half.
The Vodacom Bulls forwards laid a strong foundation up-front, and this was supported by a well-rounded backline performance.
Springboks Kurt-Lee Arendse and Johan Grobbelaar touched down two of the side’s first three tries, with David Kriel adding the other, although their last try of the first half by the Bok hooker was scored when the visitors were down to 14 men after receiving a yellow card.
The second half was more competitive as Ulster hit back with intent and tried to apply more pressure on attack and this allowed them to add two tries, but in the end, the Vodacom Bulls’ four tries to two in the second stanza - by Bok winger Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain, and Bok flanker Elrigh Louw saw the visitors suffer the heavy defeat.
The victory saw the men from Pretoria build on their impressive home win record in which they suffered only defeat since April 2023 in the competition.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), David Kriel (2), Keagan Johannes.
Ulster Rugby: Tries: Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson, Stewart Moore. Conversions: Nathan Doak, James Humphreys (2).
Teams
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Celimpilo Gumede, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Ulster Rugby: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Ben Carson, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 James McNabney, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Corrie Barrett, 2 James McCormick, 1 Andrew Warwick. Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Ben Moxham.