Handre Pollard lands killer blow as Bulls edge Scarlets in Wales

Handre Pollard kicked a penalty two minutes from time as the Bulls edged out Scarlets 23-21 in a tense contest to claim their first ever win at Parc y Scarlets.

The men from Pretoria struck first when Cheswill Jooste ran straight through for a try just three minutes in with Pollard converting.

Callum Woolley soon responded, crossing out wide, and although Joe Hawkins missed the conversion the hosts led in the 20th minute when Eddie James ran from a line-out to give them a 10-7 lead.

Hawkins again failed to convert and those misses were costly as the Bulls went 14-10 up when Harold Vurster burst through and off-loaded for Pollard to score before converting his own try.

Scarlets were back on top 10 minutes into the second half after Francois Kloppers saw yellow for offside and Fletcher Anderson went over, but the lead lasted just a few minutes before Pollard kicked a penalty.

Joe Hawkins kicked Scarlets back in front in the 63rd minute but Pollard had the final say at the end after the Bulls had a David Kriel try disallowed for a forward pass.

Scarlets: Blair Murray; Callum Woolley, Joe Roberts, Eddie James, Macs Page; Joe Hawkins, Dane Blacker; Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias, Henry Thomas; Sam Lousi, Max Douglas; Taine Plumtree, Jarrod Taylor, Fletcher Anderson (C).

Replacements: Marnus van der Merwe, Josh Morse, Harri O’Connor, Jac Price, Dan Davis, Archie Hughes, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Ioan Jones

Vodacom Bulls: David Kriel; Cheswill Jooste, Stedman Gans, Harold Vorster, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw; Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje; Marcell Coetzee (C), Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom.

Replacements: Marco van Staden, Jan Hendrik Wessels, Francois Kloppers, Cobus Wiese, Mpilo Gumede, Paul de Wet, Willie le Roux, Jeandre Rudolph