Doak boots Ulster to victory over Bulls

MATCH REPORT: The Bulls’ discipline left them down while the accurate boot of Nathan Doak secured Ulster a 26-19 victory in their United Rugby Championship clash in Belfast on Saturday.

A penalty against Elrigh Louw gave Ulster their first shot at points in the first ten minutes of the game. They kicked for the corner and then forged ahead systematically until finally Tom Stewart scored after a tap and go.

The conversion was good and the Bulls were trailing 0-7 early on.

A few wayward passes by Ulster kept the Bulls in the game early on as they were struggling to find their feet on the new 3G pitch.

When prop Gerhard Steenekamp got penalised in the scrum, it gave the home team another opportunity to drive closer to the try-line after another touch finder.

But somehow the Bulls stole the ball and hoofed it down field for some relief.

Cynical play by Ulsters’ fullback Will Addison saw him sidelined in the sin-bin for ten minutes.

A converted try in the 28th minute by Jacob Stockdale stretched Ulsters’ lead to 14-0 giving them a comfortable cushion leading into half-time.

The Bulls could not get ascendancy despite their superior numbers while Addison was still off the field.

Finally the men in blue managed to put enough phases together to send big Wilco Louw over for their first points of the night, bringing them back into the game.

A great little break by Johan Goosen almost sent the Bulls over the whitewash again, but they were held up.  But their hard work was not in vain as Sebastian de Klerk dotted down in the corner after the ball was sent wide quickly.

The tricky shot at goal was missed but half-time there were only two points in it, Ulster leading by 14-12.

The Bulls’ discipline let them down as Nathan Doak slotted two penalty goals with ease, stretching their lead to 20-12 with half-an-hour left on the clock.

The penalties continued to pile up against the Bulls giving the accurate boot of Doak the chance to punish them, even in pouring rain.

But the Bulls knuckled down and managed to get into Ulsters’ 22 and send over Gerhard Steenekamp for their third try.

But their hard work was clouded by another soft penalty and the home-side opted to kick for the corner. Another penalty followed and Doak added another three points to his tally of 13 and the sand was slowly running out for the Bulls.

With two minutes on the clock, and the weather cleared up, the Bulls hustled to get a converted try to level the score, but they were held up once again.

They were still in the Ulster 22, with a line-out to go with one minute left. But the home-side’s defence was immense, winning the ball from the maul.

The ball came out for Doak, who sent the it into the stands to end the game.

Scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: Stewart, Stockdale
Cons: Doak 2
Pens: Doak 3

For Bulls:
Tries: Louw, De Klerk, Steenekamp
Cons: Goosen 3

Yellow cards: Will Addison (Ulster, 25’ – cynical play)

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Stedman Gans

Ulster: 15 Will Addison, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Dave McCann, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Andy Warwick.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Greg McGrath, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Mike Lowry.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole, Robbie Jenkinson
TMO: Stefano Roscini