Bulls boss bouyant after dominating Bristol in Champions Cup

Bristol were overpowered by a physical, unrelenting Bulls team at Ashton Gate, conceding tries to wing Sergeal Petersen, prop Khutha Mchunu, flanker Elrigh Louw and hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels, with fly-half Johan Goosen kicking three conversions and a penalty, and centre David Kriel landing one conversion for a 31-17 scoreline.

Bristol were without injured internationals Callum Sheedy, Ellis Genge and Sinckler, while Bulls boss Jake White opted to rest his South Africa World Cup-winning quartet of Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden.

Replacement prop Max Lahiff, who had taken over from George Kloska with Bristol having a torrid time in the scrums, sin-binned early in the second half.

It meant uncontested scrums with them being unable to field a complete front-row, and Bristol having to lose another player in addition to Lahiff as a result.

White admitted that the absence of Sinckler and his fellow England prop Genge from Bristol's line-up was something his team looked to exploit.

"To be fair, we did say before the game that without Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler it was an area we were going to target, so to get a return like that at scrum time is obviously very pleasing," White said.

"The old adage of forwards winning the game and the backs determining by how much is exactly what happened today.

"I think it is the biggest win the Bulls have had in Champions Cup rugby. I am really happy with our all-round performance.

"Our destiny is in our hands now. We have got Bordeaux at home now, and if we win that then we definitely finish in the top two in the group.

"Away wins are premium. Not many away sides win in any competition, never mind the Champions Cup. An away win and a bonus point is something we will enjoy."

The Bulls host French outfit Bordeaux Begles in Pretoria on Saturday.

READ MORE: Champions Cup - Stormers get past Sale Sharks as Hacjivah Dayimani impresses