Cape Town - The Bulls put in an impressive performance against the Cheetahs in their all-South African Vodacom Super Rugby derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Bulls won 40-24 after leading 26-0 at half-time.

The Bulls scored six tries through No 8 Pierre Spies, prop Dean Greyling, fullback Zane Kirchner, scrumhalf Francois Hougaard, prop Werner Kruger and wing Bjorn Basson. Flyhalf Morne Steyn was on target with five conversions.

The Cheetahs replied with four tries through prop WP Nel (2), fullback Willie le Roux and flank Heinrich Brüssow. Replacement Sias Ebersohn added two conversions.

The Bulls picked up a full-house of five points for their victory and closed the gap on the South African Conference leaders, the Stormers, to four points. They also moved to fourth in the Combined standings.

The Cheetahs picked up a point for scoring four or more tries, but remained fourth and 10th in the South African Conference and Overall log, respectively.

In next weekend's Round 17 action, the Bulls travel to Durban to face the Sharks (Friday, July 6 at 19:10), while the Cheetahs host the Stormers in Bloemfontein (Saturday, July 7 at 15:00)

Teams:

Bulls:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Dewald Potgieter, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Francois Venter

Cheetahs:

15. Willie le Roux, 14. Philip Snyman, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Andries Strauss, 11. Rocco Jansen, 10. Riaan Smit, 9. Piet van Zyl, 8. Ashley Johnson, 7. Lappies Labuschagne, 6. Heinrich Brüssow, 5. Izak van der Merwe, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. Marcel van der Merwe, 2. Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1. Trevor Nyakane

Substitutes: 16. Hercu Liebenberg, 17. WP Nel, 18. George Earl, 19. Justin Downey 20. Tewis de Bruyn, 21. Sias Ebersohn, 22. Nico Scheepers