The Bulls delivered a strong performance in Italy to move back into the top four of the United Rugby Championship (URC), but the three other South African teams found the going tough on the road in the Northern Hemisphere.

Meanwhile, the Stormers and Sharks came up short in Glasgow and London respectively, with no points scored in both their games’ second halves, while the Lions were pipped by Benetton in Treviso.

With three rounds completed, the Bulls are in third place on the log with 11 points, one more than the Stormers who are fourth after suffering their first defeat of the season. Two Irish teams, Connacht, and Munster, remain unbeaten at the top of the standings.

The Bulls bounced back in style in Italy on Saturday when they scored eight tries in a comfortable 54-29 URC victory over Zebre Parma

Springbok hooker Akker van der Merwe crossed for two tries in the first half as the Bulls laid a solid foundation, and the visitors from Pretoria scored their fourth try for a bonus-point in the 42nd minute when Devon Williams went over for the first of his two five-pointers.

That set the tone for a dominant second half performance in which David Kriel scored a hat-trick of tries for the Bulls.

The men in blue were in control for the entire match, enjoying 62% possession and 61% territorial advantage, while Zebre were also their own worst enemies by conceding 16 penalties to the Bulls’ six.

Scorers:

 Zebre Parma 29 (15) – Tries: Jacopo Bianchi, Geronimo Prisciantelli, Scott Gregory, Lorenzo Pani. Conversions: Prisciantelli (3). Penalty goal: Prisciantelli.

Bulls 54 (21) – Tries: David Kriel (3), Devon Williams (2), Akker van der Merwe (2), Sergeal Petersen. Conversions: Johan Goosen (6), Chris Smith.

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