Flu-hit Bulls dig deep, down Dragons to return to winning ways

The Bulls, desperate for a win following a difficult couple of weeks, were too strong for Wales' Dragons as they emerged 29-14 victors in a United Rugby Championship clash in Newport on Friday night. 

FT | Dragons 14-29 Bulls

Sloppy in some aspects as they saw a 17-0 lead cut to 17-14 by half-time, the Bulls were far superior at scrum time, with the penalties resulting from that dominance helping them throughout the contest. 

In wet, slippery conditions, opportunities for enterprising, running rugby were limited, but the Dragons did look dangerous at times with ball in hand. 

For the Bulls, this was far from their best performance of the season, but that won't matter one bit. Winning on the road is not easy in this competition, and this is a result that gets the Bulls moving in the right direction again after back-to-back South African derby losses against the Stormers and Sharks. 

The bonus point win takes the Bulls up to third on the combined URC log. 

The visitors were dealt a couple of serious blows before kick-off with the news that flyhalf Chris Smith and coach Jake White could not recover from flu in time for kick-off. 

That opened the door for Johan Goosen to be elevated from the bench into the No 10 jersey, and the highly-rated playmaker showed his best and worst qualities in the opening 40 minutes. 

Goosen single-handedly set up the Bulls' first try when he gathered a kick from deep in his own territory and then set off, taking a gap and beating two defenders before releasing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who made no mistake. 

Goosen then knocked over a routine penalty to make it 10-0, and things got even better for the Bulls when the Dragons conceded a penalty try as scrumhalf Lewis Jones slapped the ball dead when it looked like