Bulls extinguish Dragons’ fire to return to winning ways

The Bulls moved up to third in the United Rugby Championship with a bonus-point 29-14 victory against a spirited Dragons side at Rodney Parade.

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The South African side made an explosive start to take a 17-0 lead but the Dragons dragged it back to a deficit of only three points before the visitors emphasised their superiority in the final quarter.

Kurt-Lee Arendse, Harold Vorster and Bismarck du Plessis scored the visiting team’s tries, while there was also a penalty try, two Johan Goosen conversions and one penalty.

Bradley Roberts and Max Clark scored tries for the Welsh side, both of which Sam Davies converted.

The Bulls were under the pump in the second half but the negotiated that tough period without conceding any points before their pack, who won no less than six scrum penalties, powered them to a convincing victory.

ALSO READ: Dragons vs Bulls — URC stats, facts and key history

Dragons vs Bulls scorers:

Dragons – Tries: Bradley Roberts, Max Clark. Conversions: Sam Davies (2).
Bulls – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Penalty try, Harold Vorster, Bismarck du Plessis. Conversions: Johan Goosen (2). Penalty goal: Goosen.

DRAGONS AND BULLS TEAMS FOR UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP:

Dragons — 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (captain), 12 Max Clark, 11 Sio Tomkinson, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Sean Lonsdale, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Aki Seiuli.
Subs: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Huw Taylor, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Ben Fry, 22 Gonzalo Bertranou, 23 Will Reed.

Bulls — 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 David Kriel, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco Van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Bernard van der Linde, 23 Cornal Hendricks.