Ruthless Bulls blow Zebre away in URC opener

The Bulls thrashed Zebre 47-13 in Parma on Saturday, scoring seven tries to launch their URC campaign in dominant fashion.

FIRST HALF RECAP: SLOW START AND FRENETIC FINISH

Zebre led early through a Tommaso Allan penalty after the Bulls struggled with handling errors. The visitors hit back when lock Matteo Canali was yellow-carded for illegally stopping a driving maul, earning the Bulls a penalty try.

Reinhardt Ludwig then crashed over from a mishandled restart, with Curwin Bosch converting to put the Bulls 14-6 ahead. Scrumhalf Paul de Wet intercepted a stray pass and sprinted 40m to score just before the break.

Bosch’s conversion extended the lead to 21-6 at halftime, capping a dominant closing spell for the visitors. The Bulls had turned territory into points while Zebre struggled to build any rhythm.

SECOND HALF RECAP: BULLS CUT LOOSE AFTER THE BREAK

Lock Ruan Vermaak scored a minute into the second half to stretch the lead further. Centre Harold Vorster then strolled over unchallenged, underlining Zebre’s defensive struggles against the Pretoria side. Zebre hit back through captain Alessandro Fusco, but the response proved a mere consolation.

Ludwig grabbed his second try with four minutes remaining, and replacement wing Zac Burger dotted down after the hooter to complete the rout. The Bulls finished with a bonus point secured well before full-time. They now travel to Limerick to face Munster next Saturday.

The Bulls’ set-piece dominance and depth on the bench will stand them in good stead in their bid to go deep into the URC playoffs this season.