URC result: Bulls beat Dragons at fortress Loftus Versfeld

The Bulls added another United Rugby Championship (URC) win at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday with a commanding 55-20 victory against the Dragons, scoring eight tries in the process.

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Such was their dominance, they were up 31-8 at the break, with the four try bonus point confirmed within 30 minutes and they continued their dominance in the second half.

It was not a faultless display by the home side, but their strike runners used the opportunities presented by a dominant pack to score some excellent tries.

Fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse sliced open the Dragons on two occasions, while barging forward runs also saw the likes of Marcell Coetzee (flank) and Johan Grobbelaar (hooker) assaulting the defence lines of the Welsh at will.

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The home side’s first half effort yielded the much needed bonus point already, with all four tries the result of typical Bulls efficiency.

Arno Botha opened the scoring for the Bulls

Bulls No 8 Arno Botha opened the scoring for the home side following a trademark Bulls lineout maul and drive with Chris Smith’s (flyhalf) conversion bouncing off the upright and over the cross bar. Smith added a penalty goal shortly after to push the Bulls 10 points ahead.

Dragons flyhalf Sam Davies kicked a penalty goal to cut the lead, but the home side broke the game open with two quick tries.

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First Coetzee broke through and found a charging Lionel Mapoe (replacement centre) on an inside line and in a flash, Embrose Papier (scrumhalf) raced down the touchline. When the scrumhalf was blocked, he found Arendse in space, with the fullback jogging in untouched. Smith converted both tries for a 24-3 lead.

That lead was extend when Grobbelaar was the beneficiary of another textbook lineout drive to secured the bonus point.

The Dragons scored the next two tries to stay in the match.

First some fine interplay amongst the Welsh saw wing Rio Dyer score on the stroke of halftime and soon after the restart his fellow winger Jared Rosser raced in again after some purposeful running. Davies missed both conversions, which did not help the scoreboard pressure.

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Arendse scored a peach of a try in 48th minute in when he collected a stray kick and left a couple of Dragons clutching thin air.

The Dragons kept coming though and Davis scored their third after some scrappy play by the Pretoria side and converted his effort to close the gap to 16 points.

Coetzee, playing a real captain’s innings on the flank, extended the lead again with a try after some good forward play. Mapoe got his brace after some bruising play by the pack, with the midfielder running off a strong line to add to his try tally in the competition.

Zak Burger (replacement scrumhalf)  added another after a great run by lock Walt Steenkamp who was put into a gap with a delightful pass from Morne Steyn (replacement flyhalf) and found Burger on his inside.

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Scorers:

Bulls

Tries: Arno Botha, Lionel Mapoe (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee, Zak Burger

Conversions: Chris Smith (5), Morne Steyn

Penalty: Smith

Dragons

Tries: Rio Dyer, Jared Rosser, Sam Davies

Conversion: Davies

Penalty: Davies