Bulls charge down Chiefs

Bulls came back from their defeat to the Blues last week with a hard-earned 33-19 Super 14 victory against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday.

Defending champions Bulls, who had previously never beaten their opponents in New Zealand, left the Waikato Stadium with a crucial bonus point thanks to tries from Gerhard van den Heever, Pierre Spies, Gary Botha and Dewald Potgieter.

Morne Steyn had an off night with the boot, kicking only three from five penalty attempts and fumbling two of the four conversions.

Critical

Stephen Donald also missed some straightforward three-point chances for the Chiefs at critical stages of the game, although he added the extras to Brendon Leonard's first-half try.

There was little between the two sides after the Bulls edged a close opening half 15-13.

The visitors outscored their opponents two tries to one in the opening 40 minutes, but Chiefs kept in contention with two penalties just before the break as Steyn's poor kicking display stopped Bulls from surging ahead.

Steyn missed an early penalty, but Bulls did not have to wait long to get on the scoreboard as wing Van den Heever powered over by the posts just nine minutes in.

A neat tap from Steyn found the hard-running winger in the gap and he charged over the line, leaving the fly-half with a simple conversion he uncharacteristically missed.

Chiefs came back not long after when an error made at the back by Steyn allowed scrum-half Leonard to touch down, with Donald adding the extras to put his side ahead.

Steyn and Donald then traded penalties before the Bulls found some good continuity in their attack to bring about another try for number eight Spies.

The Bulls were five points ahead after Steyn's conversion but two Donald penalties late in the half, and another miss by Steyn, narrowed the visitors' lead going into the break.

The second half turned into a battle between the two goal-kickers as the Chiefs midfielder snatched two early penalties, only for Bulls to respond through Steyn's boot to reclaim their advantage.

Control

Bulls took control eventually, however, as scrum-half Fourie du Preez charged up the field to set up the crucial try for hooker Botha, with Steyn adding the conversion.

Another Du Preez try was ruled out in the 71st minute as Bulls were penalised in back play for a Deon Stegmann late tackle.

Donald missed the simple penalty and Bulls reasserted their dominance in the dying minutes as Potgeiter stormed over for the all-important bonus-point try.