Nathan Doak powers Ulster to a win over a committed Bulls side
Ulster's Nathan Doak looks on during a game.
Ulster held off a relentless Bulls outfit at Kingspan Stadium on Sunday to claim a 26-19 win in the United Rugby Championship.
Scrum-half Nathan Doak was on song with the book, kicking two conversions and four penalties in his 16-point haul on the night. Tom Stewart and Jacob Stockdale were the players who got over the line for the hosts.
The Bulls, who showed great spirit on the night, scored their points through Gerhard Steenekamp, Sebastian de Klerk and Elrigh Louw tries whilst Johan Goosen added two conversions in a losing cause.
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Eight minutes in and Ulster tapped a penalty near the Bulls’ line, Stewart taking it himself and burrowing through to score.
Doak added the two extra points and then did the same on the half-hour following Stockdale’s touch down when the winger dived over in the corner from a Tom O’Toole pass when Ulster were down to 14 men following Will Addison’s yellow card.
Five minutes later, Steenekamp got the Bulls off the mark with a close-in drive, Goosen converted to cut Ulster’s lead to 14-7 with Addison returning just after the visitors’ seven points had been secured.
Then with the clock approaching red, the Bulls burst through the middle and worked in De Klerk clear for a smartly taken try. Goosen was wide from a difficult angle, but Ulster’s half-time lead was trimmed to 14-12.
Ulster needed to begin the new half well and did so with Doak landing an early penalty. He then landed his third penalty two minutes after the hour, making it 23-12 to the Irish province.
But the Bulls came again and from a scrum, Louw smashed over with the try given, despite Ulster claiming it was not grounded, with Goosen converting the 68th-minute touchdown.
Ulster responded by winning two quick penalties, the first put to the corner which was lost and the second when David McCann earned a jackal off former Ulster favourite Marcell Coetzee.
Doak kicked the three points in the 73rd minute and Ulster had a seven-point lead, which they held on to despite the Bulls laying siege to the home team’s line before McCann winning another pivotal turnover to help his side take the four points.
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