After last week’s incredible win against the Stormers in South Africa, week two of Ospreys’ trip to the southern hemisphere saw them brought crashing back to earth.

At altitude in Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Bulls dominated the visitors in almost every facet of play, securing a 61-24 win.

Bulls came into the game on the back of a last-minute loss at home to Munster and appeared to be on a mission to right some wrongs early on.

Within eight minutes they charged a maul some 20 metres with hooker Johan Grobbelaar the beneficiary.

After a brilliant 50:22 from Jack Walsh, Ospreys won a penalty but the Australian-born fly-half pulled his kick to the posts well wide.

The visitors were under significant pressure, and it was testament to their defence that it wasn’t until the 22^nd minute before Bulls doubled their lead.

Sadly, it came from an Ospreys error with Walsh missing touch from a penalty.

Brilliant work from former Wasps man Nizaam Carr saw his offload find Springbok wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who stepped inside before feeding David Kriel on the to score.

However, there was a repost from the visitors and they would do it in style too. A brilliant angle from Rhys Henry off scrum-half Luke Davies’ delayed pass saw him burst through a gap, feeding Morgan Morris whose chicken-wing offload found his nine trailing on the inside to score.

The Bulls responded, after Caar and Welsh qualified Cameron Hanekom came close, the ball was spread wide and Arendse grabbed his side’s third.

However the Welsh side would hit back with a Walsh penalty before a real sliding doors moment in the match.

With minutes remaining in the half, half breaks from Max Nagy and Keelan Giles drew in the Bulls defence and Ospreys had an overlap on the left but Henry’s pass was intercepted by Kriel who fed Canan Moodie for their bonus-point just as the visitors looked to bring themselves back within touching distance.

At the start of the second half, Bulls put their foot on the gas with Moodie grabbing his second after a brilliant grubber kick from Kriel before the centre set up scrum-half Embrose Papier off turnover ball for their sixth try.

Ospreys kept fighting however, Nagy chipping over the defence, regathering off his toes before offloading to Keiran Williams for a brilliant repost but it would be short-lived with Papier again involved, scything through before feeding Arendse for his second.

With fewer than 20 minutes remaining, and for the second time in two weeks, Nagy was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on and the home side received a penalty try.

Whilst down to 14, Ospreys came close through the forwards before switching the ball left as Reuben Morgan-Williams’ cut-out pass found Giles who did brilliantly to catch the ball high above his head and dive in to score in the corner.

Ospreys were pushing for a bonus point for their efforts, however it wasn’t to be.

Keiran Williams busted through and fed Morgan-Williams, but, as they looked poised to score, two phases later the substitute scrum-half’s pass was picked off by Willie Le Roux who ran 90 metres for Bulls’ ninth try.

With the final kick of the match, Owen Williams tried to find the corner from a penalty but saw his kick drift over the tryline and into the dead ball area leaving Ospreys pointless.

There were positives for the Ospreys, who welcomed back Dewi Lake following an extended period on the injury list, whilst they showed glimpses of attacking brilliance which will be needed when they face Leinster in Dublin in two weeks’ time.

With Ulster having beaten Benetton at home with a bonus point, with the Italians taking home two points of their own, every point is crucial up until the end of the season as Ospreys chase top eight and the play-offs.

Speaking on S4C after the game, Ospreys captain Justin Tipuric said: “Disappointing from us really but all credit to the Bulls they were on fire today.”

“We couldn’t keep them quiet, tough day for us, but we’ve got to stick together and learn from this.

“Typical of rugby, you’ve got the highs of last week and the lows of this week.

“We’re still in the fight for the play-offs and it doesn’t get any easier as we go away to Leinster next game, it shows the quality in the week that every weekend you’ve got a tough fixture.

“It shows you can’t be off it against such a good Bulls teams or they punish you like they did.”