Flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked 14 points as Super 14 champions the Bulls rallied to beat the Wellington Hurricanes 19-18 on Friday.
It was the South African team’s fifth straight win in the tournament and their 15th in a row at home dating back to April 2008 when the Hurricanes beat them 50-22.
Captain Victor Matfield also celebrated his 100th appearance in the competition but the Bulls, the leading try-scorers with 24 from the first four matches, were restricted to a single touchdown by a tenacious defence.
The visitors, semifinalists in 2009, lost their third away match of the campaign but threatened to upset the champions until the closing stages.
The Hurricanes took the lead after 13 minutes when flanker Karl Lowe touched down unopposed in the right corner.
Visiting lock Jeremy Thrush then dived over from a quickly-taken tap penalty and flyhalf Willie Ripia kicked the conversion to make it 12-0.
The Bulls struck back on the half hour when fullback Zane Kirchner rounded off a sweeping backline move.
Steyn, the competition’s leading points-scorer with 92, kicked the conversion and slotted another four penalties to see his side home.
His first penalty cut the deficit to two points but Ripia cancelled it out on the stroke of halftime and then kicked a second penalty soon after the break to open up an eight-point lead.
With no way through the opposition lines, Steyn kept his team in the hunt with two more penalties before another in the 67th minute clinched victory. – Reuters