The Bulls cruised to a 6-38 bonus point victory over local Super Rugby rivals the Southern Kings at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay stadium.
The Bulls manage to keep a clean sheet in defence while outscoring the Kings by six tries to none.
Victory for the Bulls is their third straight win over the Kings and takes their record to four wins and a draw from six matches.
The Kings have played six matches as well but they have won one and lost five.
The last time these two teams met in Super Rugby, the Bulls won the match 34-0 at the same venue. However, the Kings went into the game with a lot of confidence after they recorded their first win of the season against the Sunwolves the previous weekend.
The home side also opened the scoring in the 13th minute when flyhalf Louis Fouche kicked a penalty after an infringement by the Bulls. The visitors struck back three minutes later when Jan Serfontein crossed the line after the Bulls’ first real foray on attack.
This opened the floodgates, and the Bulls scored two more tries before the half-hour mark. Jamba Ulengo rounded off a superb team try in the 21st minute that went through 18 phases, while former Kings star SP Marais broke the line seven minutes later to score a great try.
The Kings dominated the last 10 minutes of the first half, but they just couldn’t make their supremacy count, especially after the Bulls ended the half with just 13 men on the field after lock RG Snyman and tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe were sent to the sin bin for professional fouls.
The only points the Kings could show for their efforts, especially against a vulnerable Bulls scrum, were three points from a Fouche penalty.
The Bulls struck first in the second when Ulengo completed his brace after centre Jesse Kriel gathered a loose ball before setting up the try.
Snyman’s try then basically killed off the match in the 62nd minute, before Marais scored his second try to complete a comfortable win for the three-time Super Rugby champions.
Next week the Bulls host a resurgent Reds side in Pretoria while the Kings have their second bye.
Final Score Southern Kings 6 (6) Bulls 38 (17)
Scorers
Southern Kings
Tries –
Pen – L.Fouche 2
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Bulls
Tries – J.Serfontein, Ulengo 2 , SP.Marais 2, RG.Snyman
Pen –
Con – T.Schoeman 2
Drop –
Cards – RG.Snyman (41st min yellow), M.Van der Merwe (46th min yellow)
Match Officials
Referee: Shuhei Kubo
Assistant Ref 1:Craig Joubert
Assistant Ref 2:Archie Sehlako
TMO :Christie du Preez
Teams
Southern Kings
15. Jurgen Visser , 14. Luzuko Vulindlu , 13. Lukhanyo Am , 12. Stefan Watermeyer , 11. Malcolm Jaer , 10. Louis Fouche , 09. James Hall , 08. Aidon Davis , 07. Stefan Willemse , 06. Chris Cloete , 05. JC Astle , 04. Steven Sykes (c) , 03. Tom Botha , 02. Edgar Marutlulle , 01. Sti Sithole
Replacements : 16. Martin Ferreira , 17. Schalk Ferreira , 18. Justin Ackerman , 19. Schalk Oelofse , 20. CJ Velleman , 21. Ntando Kebe , 22. Leighton Eksteen / JP du Plessis , Jaco van Tonder
Bulls
SP Marais, Travis Ismaiel , Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein , Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman , Piet van Zyl, Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Lappies Labuschagne, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss (c), Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: Bandise Maku, Pierre Schoeman, Werner Kruger, Marvin Orie, Roelof Smit, Ivan van Zyl, Francois Brummer, Dan Kriel