The returning Springboks showed their class for the Bulls on their return to the United Rugby Championship in the Pretoria side’s 47-21 win over Ulster at Loftus Versfeld.

The hosts scored seven tries on the day through Kurt-Lee Arends, David Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom, Boeta Chamberlain and Elrigh Louw. Fly-half Chamberlain kicked three conversions, Kriel hit two and replacement Keegan Johannes nailed one.

Ulster managed three tries of their own in Pretoria through Jacob Stockdale, Ben Carson and Stewart Moor with one conversion coming from Nathan Doak and two from James Humphreys.

Arendse did not take long to make his mark, crossing in the fifth-minute courtesy of some lovely side steps with Chamberlain kicking the conversion. Ulster did not take that lying down, as Stockdale put together an epic chip and chase try, and Doak kicked a difficult conversion.

The Bulls found their groove which saw Kriel go over for a converted try on the back of some stunning passing interplay in the 13th minute.

A lull in the scoring would only last until the 33rd minute when hooker Grobbelaar crashed over for his try. The second half followed suit with Moodie scoring in the first minute after the break and Kriel kicking the conversion on this occasion.

Emerging number eight Hanekom could not be kept quiet as he found his way over the whitewash 15 minutes into the second half. The Bulls were threatening to turn rampant as Chamberlain got rewarded for a strong shift with a try of his own with Kriel adding the extras.

The visitors grew into the game by now and scored two converted tries through Carson (68”) and Moore (72”) to at least show some grunt from the province. However, the Bulls would have the final say through Louw, who only looks better after his time with the Springboks.

Lineups

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Celimpilo Gumede, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Ben Carson, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 James McNabney, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Corrie Barrett, 2 James McCormick, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Ben Moxham