By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Suresh Rajcoomar /Fullview.
Vodacom Bulls moved from eighth to fifth in the United Rugby Championship (URC) table thanks to a seven-try 47-7 victory against the Challenge Cup semi-finalists Dragons RFC in Newport.
Bulls led 12-7 at half-time thanks to tries by scrum-half Embrose Papier and hooker Johan Grobbelaar either side of a super score by Dragons centre Fine Inisi.
Flanker Marcell Coetzee went over soon after the restart, before replacement hooker Marco van Staden secured the four-try bonus in the 57th minute.
Bulls then twisted the knife late on with Van Staden’s second and scores by Devon Williams and Sergeal Petersen.
The Bulls tackle the 14th-placed Scarlets in Llanelli next Saturday before finishing their regular-season campaign with matches against Italian clubs Zebre and Benetton in Pretoria.
Dragons went into the fixture in high spirits thanks to a five-game unbeaten run on home soil and Challenge Cup wins at Stade Francais and Zebre.
However, the visiting play-off hopefuls started as strong favourites and had too much for Filo Tiatia’s side, whose priority is now the 3 May European semi-final in Montpellier.
DRAGONS – Try: Fine Inisi. Conversion: Tinus de Beer.
BULLS – Try: Embrose Papier, Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee, Marco van Staden (2), Devon Williams, Sergeal Petersen. Conversions: Handré Pollard (3), David Kriel (3).