Bulls record bonus-point win against Dragons

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

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.

Bulls took a fourth-minute lead with a superb try. From just outside his 22, Goosen collected an up and under to race past two opponents before sending Arendse on a 40-metre run to the line.

Goosen converted and added a penalty before Dragons’ miserable start continued.

Bulls wing Canan Moodie chased a kick ahead to put Lewis Jones under pressure, with the scrum-half deliberately knocking the ball dead.

A penalty try was awarded with Jones yellow-carded as the home side trailed 17-0 at the end of a one-sided first quarter.

Despite playing with 14 men, Dragons responded with their first period of sustained pressure and were rewarded when Roberts forced his way over from close range.

Jones returned from the sin-bin to give his side a further boost and they roared back into contention when skilful passing created the space for Clark to slide over in the corner.

A second touchline conversion from Davies reduced Bulls’ lead to just three points at the interval.

Three minutes after the restart, a long-distance penalty from Davies rebounded back off the crossbar, but his side continued to be second best up front and were forced into conceding frequent penalties

It therefore came as no surprise when the visitors scored two tries in quick succession to pick up their bonus-point and seal victory.

First, from a five-metre scrum, Vorster picked his way through a threadbare defence before replacement Du Plessis finished off a driving line-out.