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Pretoria - The Vodacom Bulls scored two tries to one as they managed to beat the Waratahs 23-17 and keep their chances at the playoffs alive in a bruising Super Rugby encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
The home team outscored their opponents by two tries to one as they vaulted from seventh to fifth place in the table on 49 points with a fifth consecutive victory.
The Waratahs picked up a bonus point for losing by less than seven points, keeping the Australian team in sixth spot and in the last playoff position.
"We are starting to get momentum now," Bulls skipper Victor Matfield said in a televised interview. "It's nice to be in the top six but we need to win our next two matches."
The teams were locked at 6-6 just before halftime thanks to two penalties apiece from Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn and opposite number Kurtley Beale.
Then, with seconds remaining in the half, the hosts went ahead through a well-worked try from inside centre Wynand Olivier.
The Bulls won a lineout on the halfway line before Gerhard van der Heever came off the right wing and drew the last defender to set up Olivier for a converted try.
Four minutes after the restart they extended their lead thanks to a breathtaking try which started inside their own 22 metres.
The ball was thrown along the backline before centre Jaco Pretorius made a 30-metre run and set up wing Bjorn Basson for his ninth try of the season.
The Waratahs staged a fightback with Beale booting his third penalty and replacement wing Afa Pakalani diving over in the corner to reduce the deficit to six points.
Beale then kicked another penalty before Waratahs replacement forward Pat O'Conner was red-carded for head-butting an opponent and Steyn kicked the resulting penalty.
"At halftime we felt we were very much in the match. We felt that possession would come our way, and it did, but we let ourselves down, made some mistakes and gave away some turnovers," Waratahs captain Dean Mumm said.
Scorers:
Bulls: Tries - Wynand Olivier, Bjorn Basson. Conversions - Morné Steyn (2). Penalties - Steyn (3).
Waratahs: Try - Afa Pakalani. Penalties - Kurtley Beale (4).
Teams:
Bulls – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretoruis, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.
Waratahs - 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Tom Carter, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Soseni Anesi, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Dean Mumm (c), 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Subs: 16 Paddy Ryan, 17 John Ulugia, 18 Pat O’Connor, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Hugh Perrett, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Atieli Pakalani.
The home team outscored their opponents by two tries to one as they vaulted from seventh to fifth place in the table on 49 points with a fifth consecutive victory.
The Waratahs picked up a bonus point for losing by less than seven points, keeping the Australian team in sixth spot and in the last playoff position.
"We are starting to get momentum now," Bulls skipper Victor Matfield said in a televised interview. "It's nice to be in the top six but we need to win our next two matches."
The teams were locked at 6-6 just before halftime thanks to two penalties apiece from Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn and opposite number Kurtley Beale.
Then, with seconds remaining in the half, the hosts went ahead through a well-worked try from inside centre Wynand Olivier.
The Bulls won a lineout on the halfway line before Gerhard van der Heever came off the right wing and drew the last defender to set up Olivier for a converted try.
Four minutes after the restart they extended their lead thanks to a breathtaking try which started inside their own 22 metres.
The ball was thrown along the backline before centre Jaco Pretorius made a 30-metre run and set up wing Bjorn Basson for his ninth try of the season.
The Waratahs staged a fightback with Beale booting his third penalty and replacement wing Afa Pakalani diving over in the corner to reduce the deficit to six points.
Beale then kicked another penalty before Waratahs replacement forward Pat O'Conner was red-carded for head-butting an opponent and Steyn kicked the resulting penalty.
"At halftime we felt we were very much in the match. We felt that possession would come our way, and it did, but we let ourselves down, made some mistakes and gave away some turnovers," Waratahs captain Dean Mumm said.
Scorers:
Bulls: Tries - Wynand Olivier, Bjorn Basson. Conversions - Morné Steyn (2). Penalties - Steyn (3).
Waratahs: Try - Afa Pakalani. Penalties - Kurtley Beale (4).
Teams:
Bulls – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretoruis, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.
Waratahs - 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Tom Carter, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Soseni Anesi, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Dean Mumm (c), 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Subs: 16 Paddy Ryan, 17 John Ulugia, 18 Pat O’Connor, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Hugh Perrett, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Atieli Pakalani.
