Bulls bash Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate without their front-line ...

A weakened Bulls side completed an impressive 12-31 bonus-point win over Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate in the Champions Cup on Saturday.

The visitors missed plenty of chances throughout the game but tries from Sergeal Petersen, Khutha Mchunu, Elrich Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels. David Kriel added one conversion, whilst Johan Goosen kicked three conversions of his own and a single penalty on the day.

Bristol did show fight in some periods but managed three tries through Kieran Marmion in the first half and Gabriel Ibitoye and Magnus Bradbury in each half, with AJ MacGinty only managing one of the conversions.

Bristol were without injured internationals Callum Sheedy, Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler, while Bulls boss Jake White opted to rest his South Africa World Cup-winning quartet of Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden.

The Bulls made a bright start, with Petersen testing Bristol’s defence through a powerful touchline break, before Goosen kicked a 40-metre penalty that opened the scoring.

Goosen made a temporary exit three minutes later, though, being yellow-carded by referee Mathieu Raynal for a deliberate knock-on after Bristol looked to attack through Marmion and flanker Dan Thomas.

Bristol found themselves under early scrum pressure, conceding two penalties in quick succession, before Bulls’ physical power helped carve out an opening for Petersen, with his clinical 15th-minute try being converted by Kriel.

But the home side responded impressively when MacGinty and centre James Williams combined strongly in midfield, allowing Marmion an unopposed run to the line. MacGinty’s conversion cut the deficit to three points.

Williams was soon heavily involved in the action again, but this time at the other end of the pitch, as his challenge on Bulls lock Reinhardt Ludwig prevented a try.

Bristol’s scrummaging problems were underlined nine minutes before the break when rugby director Pat Lam substituted both starting props Sam Grahamslaw and George Kloska, replacing them with Jake Woolmore and Max Lahiff.

It could not prevent Bristol from immediately conceding a fourth scrum penalty, yet the Bulls could not capitalise as they took a 10-7 advantage into half-time.

Lahiff was sin-binned for a scrummaging offence early in the second period, and the Bulls struck near the end of his 10 minutes off the pitch.

A flowing counter-attack was briefly halted by Bristol, but the Bulls had sufficient momentum and Mchunu crashed over for an outstanding try that Goosen converted.

There was no way back for Bristol, and the Bulls went up a gear to leave their opponents floundering by scoring two tries in three minutes.

Louw applied a brilliant finish following a flowing move, then Wessels intercepted Bristol captain Steven Luatua’s pass on the halfway line and sprinted 50 metres to score.

Ibitoye and Bradbury pounced for scores during the closing minutes, but the Bulls were comfortably home and dry.

Bristol Bears: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Joe Batley, 4 Josh Caulfield, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Sam Grahamslaw
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Joe Owen, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Virimi Vakatawa, 23 Rich Lane

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Tiaan Lange, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 Deon Slabbert, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Henry Immelman

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Vivien Praderie (Fra), Jonathan Gasnier (Fra)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (Fra)

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