The Bulls maintained their unbeaten start to the Super 14 with a 14-10 win over rivals the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The home side joined fellow South Africans the Sharks and Australia’s Waratahs as the only unbeaten teams after four rounds of action.
The Bulls stay top of the standings on points difference over the Waratahs with the Sharks in third place.
Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn contributed nine points with two penalties and a drop goal, while centre Wynand Olivier scored the home team’s only try of the match.
The Stormers scored a try through replacement hooker Deon Fourie while flyhalf Willem de Waal slotted a drop goal and his replacement Peter Grant added a conversion.
The match failed to live up to the hype — especially in a dire first half.
It took 23 minutes for the first points to be scored when Steyn slotted a penalty.
Seven minutes later De Waal landed a drop goal and Steyn rounded out the scoring in the half with a 38th-minute penalty after the Stormers ventured offside at a ruck.
The infringement earned Stormers hooker Schalk Brits a yellow card and while he was off the field Olivier scored for the Bulls.
The Bulls’ try came from a quickly taken tap penalty in the 47th minute by skipper Fourie du Preez, who fed the ball wide for Olivier to score.
Fourie scored a superb solo try for the Stormers with a 30-metre run in which he burst through some feeble tackles to ensure the outcome of the match remained in the balance until the end. – Reuters