Bulls 55-20 Dragons: Dean Ryan's side the latest Welsh team to get thrashed in South Africa

The Dragons conceded eight tries as they were thumped 55-20 by the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday night.

Things looked ominous from the start and it took the hosts just four minutes to get their first score of the match. They got easy access to the Dragons’ 22 through ill-discipline – a theme in the first half – and made them pay when No.8 Arno Botha burrowed his way over from close range.

Chris Smith converted and clipped over a penalty five minutes later. A Dragons lineout went horribly wrong in the Bulls’ 22 and within seconds, Jordan Williams was getting isolated deep in his own half, giving Smith an easy shot at three points.

For the next 15 minutes, the Dragons contained their hosts and blew a handful of good opportunities in the Bulls’ red zone. Sam Davies got his side on the board after 24 minutes with a penalty when Gerhard Steenekamp wandered offside but then came the onslaught.

After a good carry from hooker Johan Grobbelaar, the Dragons were sleeping around the fringes and Marcell Coetzee broke up the middle of the field from 30 metres out before popping to centre Lionel Mapoe, who strolled under the sticks.

Two minutes later, a Gonzalo Bertranou box-kick went loose and was scooped up by Embrose Papier, who broke clear up the near touchline before feeding Kurt-Lee Arendse on his inside for a simple try.

And the Bulls wrapped up the bonus point two minutes before the break. More ill-discipline gave the Bulls a dangerous position and hooker Grobbelaar was at the back of a maul that rumbled over the line and Smith nailed his fifth kick of the night.

But the Dragons did take something into the sheds. The Bulls wandered offside and Davies knocked it down into their 22. From the maul, Ollie Griffiths fed Bertranou,