Scarlets capitalise on late Johan Grobbelaar red card to edge out Bulls

The Scarlets took advantage of a debatable red card for Johan Grobbelaar to secure a morale-boosting 23-22 victory over the high-flying Bulls.

Despite failing to capitalise on their overwhelming share of possession and territory, the Bulls still led for most of the match until Grobbelaar was sent off, paving the way for Tom Rogers to score the match-winning try.

Josh Macleod and Blair Murray also crossed for the Scarlets, Ioan Lloyd adding two penalties and a conversion.

Canan Moodie, Zak Burger and Kurt-Lee Arendse scored tries for the Bulls, with Boeta Chamberlain kicking a penalty and two conversions.

It took the visitors just 70 seconds to open the scoring with a flowing move which culminated in a try for Moodie.

Aided by the award of a couple of penalties in their favour, the home side soon responded when captain Macleod forced his way over from close range.

However the flanker quickly conceded a penalty for a high tackle and the South Africans capitalised immediately when scrum-half Burger raced away from a maul to score, with the home defence strangely absent.

The Bulls extended their lead when a strong run from Moodie saw him hauled down just short of the line. The centre lost possession, with Arendse picking up the loose ball to touch down, and TMO replays showed the ball had gone backwards so the try was allowed to stand.

Chamberlain converted before Lloyd replied with a penalty to leave the Bulls with a deserved 19-10 interval lead.

Two minutes after the interval the Scarlets roared back into contention when a neat pass from Lloyd sent Murray racing through the opposition ranks for an excellent individual try.

Chamberlain replied with a penalty before the Scarlets brought on Sam Costelow, with Lloyd switching from fly-half to full-back in place of Ioan Nicholas.

Lloyd kicked a second penalty to leave his side trailing by four points going into the final quarter before the Bulls’ replacement hooker, Grobbelaar, was harshly sent off for a high challenge on Marnus van der Merwe.

And the Scarlets took advantage when Rogers slipped past three defenders to put his side in front for the first time with nine minutes left on the clock.