Bulls beat Connacht for third victory in row

The Bulls surged to their third consecutive United Rugby Championship victory when they beat Connacht 28-14 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

Having downed the Lions in the opening round they were run close by Edinburgh last weekend but they hit the deck running against the Irish outfit in a bonus-point win.

Their discipline however left a lot to be desired. Had they not lost three men to the sin bin they might have won by a greater margin.

Nonetheless it is a result that would have pleased their director of rugby Jake White.

Though the Bulls shot to a 14-0 lead early on, they struggled to assert themselves.

Tries by Kurt-Lee Arendse who scored a long-range try after pouncing on a loose ball and Zak Burger who sniped from close range after Canan Moodie came close, handed the Bulls that advantage.

Connacht however did not go quietly. They stuck to their guns in the tackle but they offered little by way of meaningful attack.

It wasn't until the dying embers of the first half that the Bulls benefited from back-to-back penalties and got to within striking range of the visitors' goalline that they stretched their advantage.

Another tap penalty saw them rumble forward through captain Marcell Coetzee who was forced over the line with considerable assistance from his teammates.

Johan Goosen added the additional two as he did in the case of Arendse and Burger's tries to hand the Bulls a considerable 21-point buffer at the break.

Soon after the break the Bulls were back on the front foot. Burger was on hand to score his second.

Just when it looked like the Bulls might open the flood gates they suffered a setback when Goosen was yellow-carded for making head contact in a tackle in the 51st minute. He was perhaps fortunate the sanction wasn't worse.

Connacht failed to capitalise. Sure, they showed attacking intent but they lacked composure when they got into striking distance. They were frustrated by the Bulls at the breakdown where Marco van Staden in particular made a real nuisance of himself.

It wasn't until Bulls substitute Jan-Hendrik Wessels was sin-binned for a ridiculously late tackle that Connacht sprang to life.

Tries by Jack Aungier and David Hawkshaw didn't so much get them back in the game as lend their score respectability.

Scorers

Bulls (28) - Tries: Zak Burger (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Marcell Coetzee. Conversions: Johan Goosen (4).

Connacht (14) - Tries: Jack Aungier, David Hawkshaw. Conversions: David Hawkshaw (2).

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