On Sunday evening Ulster played the Bulls, the first game on the newly laid 3G pitch at Kingspan Stadium. Having won their previous United Rugby Championship game, both sides were keen to make it 2 from 2.
Ulster started strongly and from a tap penalty Tom Stewart drove over beside the posts. Neil Doak’s conversion had Ulster 7-0 up in 8 minutes.
The Bulls put pressure on Ulster, resulting in a Will Addison yellow card. Despite this Ulster increased their lead when Jacob Stockdale crossed at the left corner. Doak’s difficult conversion had Ulster leading 14-0.
Ulster seemed to relax and conceded tries from Gerhard Steenekamp and Sebastian De Klerk, one of which was converted by Johan Goosen to leave Ulster leading at halftime by a slender 14-12 margin.
Ulster took advantage of a couple of Bulls infringements early on in the second half, with Doak converting both penalty goal chances, in a swirling wind, to lead 20-12.
The promised rain came and quickly became a deluge. A Bulls attack yielded a Elrigh Louw try, after a TMO check. Goosen’s conversion reduced Ulster’s lead to 20-19.
Two Doak penalties completed the scoring for Ulster, who now led 26-19. The Bulls pressed for a score but Ulster held out for a 2nd victory in this year’s United Rugby Championship and a 3rd place in the table.
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