The Bulls turned around last week’s shocking form to beat the Otago Highlanders 47-17 in the Super 14 on Saturday.
Having lost 50-22 last week to the Wellington Hurricanes, the Bulls scored six tries to two against Otago at Loftus Versfeld, with fullback Zane Kirchner and winger Akona Ndungane each collecting two.
Centre JP Nel and substitute flanker Pedrie Wannenburg also bagged tries for the Bulls, while replacement prop Chris King and lock Tom Donnelly scored in the second half for the Highlanders.
Kirchner had played poorly against the Hurricanes, but he scored two of three tries in the first half on Saturday as the Bulls finally adapted to the experimental law variations to lead 28-3 at the break.
His first try followed a kick ahead from Bryan Habana, and he beat the defence to touch down. Soon after, he supported a good step inside by Ndungane to take the final pass and score his second.
Ndungane scored the third try, rounding off some good passing between the backs and forwards to go over in the right-hand corner.
The Bulls extended the lead to 33-3 in the 46th minute when Kirchner sliced through a tackle and put Nel into space for an easy try.
The Highlanders hit back with a try to King in the 63rdminute, and the visitors put some pressure on when the Bulls lost replacement forward Danie Rossouw to the sin bin two minutes later for playing the ball off his feet while the Highlanders were on attack.
Donnelly took advantage of the Bulls’ seven-man pack to stretch over and score a converted try to make it 35-17 in the 71st minute. But the Bulls hit back with a try to Wannenburg soon after the restart.
Ndungane then score a neatly worked try in the 77th minute. — Sapa-AP