Bulls see red as Grobbelaar sending off costs them victory at Scarlets

A red card – their second in as many weeks – cost the Bulls dearly in a 23-22 loss to Wales' Scarlets in Llanelli on Friday night.

22-18 up after 67 minutes and in a scrap to secure their fourth straight victory of the United Rugby Championship season, the visitors were rocked by the decision to send off hooker Johan Grobbelaar for a high hit.

Even the home television commentators conceded it was a "harsh" call.

That won't soften the blow for coach Jake White and his charges, though, who had led the entire contest up until that point.

It was not a pretty affair, but Scarlets were scrappy enough to stay in the contest even when they were the second-best side on the field for large parts, and they ultimately got their reward.

Early indications were that this was going to be a fun night out for the men from Pretoria.

They were quickest out of the blocks, playing with speed and plenty of intent as Canan Moodie opened the scoring in just the second minute of the game.

In front of a small Llanelli crowd, the hosts did not seem up to the physicality of their South African visitors and their equalising try in just the 11^th minute came out of nowhere and completely against the run of play.

But with Zak Burger and Kurt-Lee Arendse both going over before the half-hour mark, the Bulls were largely comfortably 19-10 leaders going into the break.

Scarlets, though, just wouldn't go away and after they struck soon after the restart with their second try of the night, the game grew far tighter.

Attacks from deep were replaced by tactical kicks, with both sides now starting to take their shots at goal when on offer.

With the Bulls 22-18 up in the 67^th minute, the game was given its major talking point when Grobbelaar was shown a straight