Nineteen points up inside half an hour, Pretoria was settling in for a comfortable evening. Then the Welsh visitors started running, and in the second half the scoreboard read level.
The Bulls v Scarlets result: Bulls 54, Scarlets 26, eight tries to four, a United Rugby Championship (URC) round-five bonus-point win. SA Rugby magazine, Rugby365, Swansea Bay News and the PA match report on Nation.Cymru, all written after the final whistle, agree on the final score and on every try scorer. Swansea Bay News has it 19-12 at half-time.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Bulls 54-26 Scarlets |
| Half-time | Bulls 19-12 Scarlets |
| Bulls tries | Jeandre Rudolph, Willie le Roux, Dylan Maart 2, Marcell Coetzee 2, Sebastian de Klerk, Johan Grobbelaar |
| Bulls kicks | Curwin Bosch 7 conversions |
| Scarlets tries | John McKee, Sam Lousi, Archie Hughes, Joe Roberts |
| Scarlets kicks | Carwyn Leggatt-Jones 3 conversions |
| Yellow card | Stedman Gans (Bulls) |
| Referee | Eoghan Cross |
| Venue | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
| Competition | United Rugby Championship, round five |
A fast start, then a door left open
Flank Jeandre Rudolph got the first try after 11 minutes, by the PA report’s timing, and Willie le Roux and Dylan Maart followed before the half-hour. Bosch converted two of the three, and the Bulls were 19-0 to the good.
SA Rugby magazine noted numerous defensive lapses in the Bulls’ evening, and the Scarlets took their chance. Hooker John McKee scored, then Sam Lousi went over before the break. One conversion from Carwyn Leggatt-Jones made it 19-12 at the interval, a much closer contest than it had looked at 19-0.
Bulls v Scarlets result: Coetzee steadies the ship
Marcell Coetzee came off the bench and scored after the break, and Bosch’s extras made it 26-12. It did not settle anything. Centre Stedman Gans went to the sin bin for a trip, and the Scarlets struck twice: wing Archie Hughes, then centre Joe Roberts after a break by full-back Ioan Nicholas, as Swansea Bay News described it. Both were converted, and at 26-26 the visitors had a fourth try and a bonus point in the bag.
Coetzee answered again. His second try put the Bulls back in front, and it was the start of a closing burst nobody in the Scarlets jersey could live with. Sebastian de Klerk scored just after the hour, replacement hooker Johan Grobbelaar went over soon afterwards, and Maart finished with his second of the night. Bosch converted all four of the late tries. From 26-26, the Bulls scored the last 28 points.
Rugby365 named Rudolph player of the match and credited him with 15 carries, the most on the field. SA Rugby magazine singled out the Bulls’ scrum and Bosch’s kicking.
Why it matters
Eight tries means five points. Going into the weekend the Bulls were third on 16, according to our preview of the round, and this takes them to 21, level with the Stormers, who also collected a bonus point at home on Saturday afternoon. SA Rugby magazine counts it as a fourth win in five. The full log waits for the last of the weekend’s games.
Coetzee’s double is becoming a habit: he scored twice against Ulster last week too, as our Bulls v Ulster report told it, and played here only after his citing from that game was not upheld.
For the Scarlets, a try bonus point is little comfort. They have one league win from five, and Swansea Bay News counts two points from their South African trip, which began with last week’s 52-40 defeat in Cape Town.
Our view: the scoreline flatters the Bulls, and Johan Ackermann will know it. A side that leads 19-0 at home should not find itself level at 26-26 in the second half. But the bench changed the game. Coetzee, De Klerk and Grobbelaar all came on and all scored, and that depth is exactly what a long season rewards. The defensive lapses are fixable. A bench that wins matches is harder to build.
What comes next
This was the Bulls’ last home URC game of 2026, and the competition now breaks for November. The Scarlets are next in action against Connacht in Llanelli on Saturday 5 December. The Sharks, the last South African side in action this weekend, took on Munster at Thomond Park tonight; that report follows.