URC: Bulls survive late wobble to edge Connacht in Galway thriller

After a disappointing outing in Belfast last week, Jake White's men responded with a much-improved performance to notch up their fourth win in five meetings with the Irish province.

Connacht struck first when flyhalf Josh Ioane sliced through the Bulls' defence for an early converted try. But the visitors replied swiftly through scrumhalf Paul de Wet, who finished off a sharp move set up by Canan Moodie.

The match tilted in the Bulls' favour when Connacht flank Josh Murphy was shown a red card for a punch on Cobus Wiese. The South Africans capitalised almost immediately, with Willie le Roux darting over for their second try to give them a 12-7 lead at the break.

Keagan Johannes extended the advantage early in the second half with a drop goal, before Connacht hit back through Caolin Blade to close the gap to a single point. The Bulls, however, found their rhythm again as De Wet grabbed his second try of the night and Johannes added a penalty to stretch the score to 25-14.

Connacht refused to go quietly. Replacement Sean Naughton scored and later added a penalty to make it 22-28 heading into the closing minutes. The hosts piled on the pressure, and when Mack Hansen finished superbly in the corner in the dying moments, the Bulls' hearts were in their mouths.

Fortunately for the visitors, Naughton's touchline conversion attempt drifted wide, allowing the Bulls to cling to a one-point victory - their first win in Galway since joining the URC.

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