Cape Town - It was heartache for the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday night as Blues flyhalf Otere Black kicked a penalty after the hooter to land a 23-21 win for the visitors.
The match was played in a downpour that lasted for almost all of of the 80 minutes, making conditions extremely difficult for both sides.
The Bulls took an 11-8 lead into half-time, but they were 20-14 down with just 10 minutes to go before a try from Jeandre Rudolph put them ahead.
It looked like they were on their way to a first win of 2020, but when referee Marius van der Westhuizen blew the entire Bulls backline for off-sides in the final minute, Black had a chance to snatch the result and he made no mistake.
The hosts scored two tries to three from their visitors, but given that they were winless after their first two matches of 2020 before this, this result would have been a massive one for coach Pote Human and his side.
It was not to be, however, and the Bulls remain bottom of the South African Conference.
More to follow ...
Scorers:
Bulls 21 (11)
Tries: Morne Steyn, Jeandre Rudolph
Conversion: Manie Libbok
Penalties: Steyn (3)
Blues 23 (8)
Tries: Mark Telea, Tom Robinson, Stephen Perofeta
Conversion: Otere Black
Penalties: Black (2)
Teams:
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Wian Vosloo, 6 Jeandre Rudolph, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes:16 Corniel Els, 17 Gerhard Steenkamp, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Ruan Steenkamp 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Divan Rossouw
Blues
15 Stephen Perofeta, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Harry Plummer, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Otere Black, 9 Jonathan Ruru, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Tony Lamborn, 6 Tom Robinson, 5 Jacob Pierce, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (captain), 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 James Parsons, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Substitutes: 16 Kurt Eklund, 17 Ezekiel Lindenmuth, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Aaron Carroll, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 Sam Nock, 22 TJ Faiane, 23 Matt Duffie