It was the Bryan Habana show at Newlands on Saturday as the brilliant wing ran in five tries in the Bulls’ 44-13 thumping of the Stormers.
Although the Cape side fielded a predominantly second string, the Bulls will nevertheless take great satisfaction from a performance where they came from 10-0 down after 13 minutes to win by a 31-point margin.
Heyneke Meyer’s side only led 15-13 at half-time, but dominated the second half and even scored two tries during the 10 minutes that replacement prop Danie Thiart had to spend in the sin bin.
Habana’s tries all bore the mark of a master opportunist. His first was thanks to a charge-down of Stormers scrumhalf Paul Delport’s kick and edged the Bulls ahead for the first time.
For the second — the first of four after the interval — he ran on to hooker Gary Botha’s kick. However, he had work left to do as he had to take care not to step into touch while flying down the left once he had gathered the ball.
His hat-trick came after a trademark intercept that put the game beyond the Stormers at 25-13. But the Bulls weren’t finished by a long shot and Habana pounced on replacement flyhalf Morne Steyn’s kick behind the defence.
Flank Tim Dlulane got in on the act six minutes before the end before Habana rubbed further salt into the wound by scoring after Stormers centre Piet van Zyl was caught in possession. — Sapa