Ulster beaten by Bulls despite brave second-half fightback

Ireland rugby head coach Andy Farrell would have permitted himself a wry smile following Ulster’s 34-26 defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld during round four of the United Rugby Championship.

With the Ulster side containing eight players named in Ireland’s squad for the upcoming Nations Championship and the Bulls featuring no fewer than nine Springboks, this was a bit of a dress rehearsal for Ireland’s date with South Africa at Aviva Stadium in under a month. Although it must be noted that this game was played in pretty alien conditions for the men from Belfast.

The temperature in Pretoria was 31 degrees, with water breaks and umbrellas to boot introduced midway through each half, and the half-time break extended to 20 minutes. Significantly, whereas the altitude, with Loftus Versfeld being 4,429 feet above sea level, was expected to start taking its toll on Ulster in the second half, Richie Murphy’s side emerged strongest after the break.

In fact, Ulster “won” the second stanza 19-13, outscoring the 2025/26 finalists by three tries to one. The try tally in the end was four apiece, with the Irishmen enjoying 51 per cent possession and territory.

The visitors from Ireland suffered a horror start when Bulls captain and former Ulster backrow, Marcell Coetzee, powered across from an attacking lineout with the first two minutes.

Thereafter, Ulster composed themselves reasonably well to restrict the Bulls from scoring for the next 15 minutes. Tom Stewart and his warriors certainly defended bravely during this period, even holding Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar up across the line in the 11th minute, while halfback Nathan Doak relieved pressure effectively with his kicks from the base of the ruck.

Stewart even turned possession over, burst into Bulls territory and forced a penalty in the 12th minute, but Ulster were unable to benefit from the resultant 22 entry.

Bok number eight Elrigh Louw finally crossed for the Bulls’ second try midway through the half, and Coetzee smashed through for a brace of tries after half an hour. That opened up a commanding 21-0 lead, with the home side enjoying 62 per cent possession and 64 per cent territory.

With no time left in the opening stanza, however, winger Chay Mullins raced in for an important try, after number eight Juarno Augustus, who stood his ground against the Bulls in the physical exchanges, had powered across the gainline and Stewart drew the defence brilliantly to create the overlap. Jack Murphy converted from up against the touchline to reduce the halftime deficit to 7-21.

Ulster carried on where they left off in the first half, to manoeuvre flanker David McCann over for their second try five minutes after the break. In addition, Coetzee was yellow carded for head contact, yet Ulster were unable to capitalise during the 10 minutes the Bulls were reduced to 14 men.

However, midway through the second half, Augustus ripped the ball from Handré Pollard’s hands and charged into Bulls territory, setting up a great attacking penalty. Mullins dotted down in the corner for his second try following sustained pressure from the subsequent lineout, but the Bulls struck back almost immediately through Grobbelaar to stretch their lead to 31-19.

Still, Ulster refused to toss in the towel and kept up the pressure for Stuart McCloskey to cross for their bonus-point try. With 10 minutes left and the Bulls clinging to a 31-26 lead, it was still anyone’s game.

Ulster just couldn’t get over the line in the end, though, and instead Bulls’ replacement Curwin Bosch nailed a long-distance penalty in the 82nd minute to seal a hard-fought win for the home side.

Apart from Stewart, who led from the front, and Augustus, Michael Lowry was all energy on the left wing, while loosehead Tom O’Toole was a major steadying influence in the Ulster pack, which refused, until the very end, to succumb to their Bulls counterparts at scrum time.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Coetzee try, Pollard con, 7-0; 18: Louw try, Pollard con, 14-0; 32: Coetzee try, Pollard con, 21-0; HT: 21-0; 41: Mullins try, Murphy con, 21-7; 45: McCann try, Murphy con, 21-14; 50: Pollard pen, 24-14; 64: Mullins try, 24-19; 66: Grobbelaar try, Pollard con, 31-19; 70: McCloskey try, Murphy con, 31-26; 82: Bosch pen, 34-26

BULLS: L Giliomee; S de Klerk, S Xamlashe, H Vorster, C Jooste; H Pollard, P de Wet; G Steenekamp, J Grobbelaar; F Klopper, R Vermaak, R Ludwig; M Coetzee (capt), H Liebenberg, E Louw.

Replacements: D Maart for Jooste (50 mins); Z Burger for Xamlashe (63); A Tshakweni for Steenekamp, C Wiese for Vermaak (both 65); C Hanekom for Louw (66); K Mchunu for Klopper (70); C Bosch for Pollard, M van Staden for Grobbelaar (both 74).

Yellow card: Coetzee (45 mins).

ULSTER: J Stockdale; C Mullins, J Benson, S McCloskey, M Lowry; J Murphy, N Doak; T O’Toole, T Stewart (capt), K Knox; B Donnell, C Izuchukwu; D McCann, N Timoney, J Augustus.

Replacements: M Devine for Doak (56 mins); E Snyman for Izuchukwu (57); E O’Sullivan for O’Toole, S Wilson for Knox, J McKillop for Timoney, J McNabney for Augustus (all 65); Doak for Devine (68); H Walker for Stewart (74).

Referee: Ru Campbell (Sco).