Wing Cameron Shepherd scored 25 points to inspire the Western Force to a 30-27 Super 14 victory over the Bulls in Pretoria on Friday.
Shepherd scored two tries, three conversions and three penalties and prop Gareth Hardy ran in the Perth-based team’s third try at Loftus Versfeld.
It was the Australians’ second win in South Africa in a week after beating the Stormers 22-3 in Cape Town.
The Bulls dominated the early exchanges and ran into a 17-6 lead after 30 minutes. Centre JP Nel scored two tries in the space of five minutes to put the Bulls into a commanding lead.
Both scores came from lineout drives close to the Force line following penalties kicked for touch instead of at goal.
But the visitors weathered the onslaught and delivered an impressive second half performance in which they starved the bulky home team of possession.
Their comeback coincided with a yellow card for Bulls flanker Anton Leonard just before halftime.
Shepherd kicked a penalty on the stroke of halftime and then scored a try in the 46th minute while Leonard was still off the field to bring the visitors to within a point of the lead.
Although Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn landed a third penalty and Leonard made amends with a try in the 53rd minute, the Force never wilted despite trailing 27-16.
Shepherd scored his second try in the 55th minute after fullback Drew Mitchell created space with an angled run and then Hardy ran 25m for his try in the 67th.
The Bulls had a chance for a draw with a penalty in front of the uprights with two minutes remaining, but instead opted to run the penalty in search of a match-winning try. – Reuters