No sooner than the Bulls stopped celebrating the return of several Springboks to their ranks, they were left to pick up the pieces of a disappointing performance. International stars Handre Pollard, Canan Moodie, Marco van Staden and an all-Springbok front row trundled out for business in Belfast, but they left with little.
A war of attrition ensued in the first half, with Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey eventually scything over in the 22nd minute. The hosts went down to 14 men after a series of penalties and hooker Rob Herring copped the blame.
The Bulls took advantage and Bok behemoth Wilco Louw bashed over from close range with a quick tap. Pollard added the extras and the teams went down the tunnel at seven apiece.
In the second stanza, Bulls No. 8 Jeandre Rudolph was shown a yellow card for cynical play and Ulster took advantage immediately with a try via South African import Juarno Augustus.
Herring made up for his sin bin in the first half with a well-worked rolling maul try in the 54th minute. The final nail in the Bulls' coffin came from Cormac Izuchuwu, who crashed over for the bonus point try a few minutes later.