Bulls rally to beat Ospreys 53-40 at Loftus in URC opener

The Vodacom Bulls overturned a 26-19 halftime deficit to beat the Ospreys 53-40 in a high-scoring United Rugby Championship opener at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday. The home side scored nine tries, including a second-half surge of six, to seal the victory in front of a large crowd at altitude.

The Ospreys raced into an early lead, scoring twice inside the first five minutes through Keelan Giles and Keiran Williams as their wide, quick backline exposed gaps in the Bulls defence. Jack Walsh and Williams added further first-half tries, and the visitors secured a four-try bonus point before the interval. The Bulls replied late in the half when hooker Johan Grobbelaar finished off a sustained period of pressure to leave the score 26-19 at the break.

The momentum swung decisively after halftime. Grobbelaar touched down for his second try early in the second period and completed a hat-trick from a driving maul after Ospreys lock James Fender was sinbinned. Debutant Cheswill Jooste provided a turning point with two well-taken tries, the first on his United Rugby Championship debut, while Jan Serfontein and replacement prop Juann Else also crossed as the Bulls ran in five...