Bulls thump Highlanders at Loftus to get off the mark in 2020

Thanks largely to a Rosko Specman hat-trick, the Bulls landed a crucial 38-13 Super Rugby win over New Zealand's Highlanders at Loftus on Saturday. 

AS IT HAPPENED: Bulls 38-13 Highlanders

It has been a tough season for coach Pote Human's charges so far, but they turned it on when they needed to on Saturday by scoring six tries to just one from their opposition to secure a winning bonus point. 

The match will be remembered for an inexplicable kit clash in the first half before the hosts changed from their traditional blue strip into their yellow and white away jerseys, but by the end none of that mattered as the Bulls finally gave the Loftus faithful a performance to cheer with a roaring display in the second half.

The hosts had gone into half-time 10-5 down. 

In the context of the playoff race, it was a massive result for the Bulls and their first win of the season having started the weekend bottom of the overall log. 

This result sees them move ahead of the Lions and up to 4th in the South African Conference while they are also up to 11th on the overall log. 

Scorers:

Bulls 38 (5)

Tries: Jaco Visagie, Warrick Gelant, Rosko Specman (3), Cornal Hendricks

Conversions: Manie Libbok (3), Morne Steyn (2)

Blues 13 (10)

Try: Josh Ioane

Conversion: Josh Ioane

Penalties: Josh Ioane (2)

Teams:

Bulls

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Muller Uys, 7 Josh Strauss, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Trevor Nyakane (captain), 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka 

Substitutes: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Ryno Pieterse, 20 Ruan Steenkamp, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Divan Rossouw

Highlanders

15 Michael Collins, 14 Josh McKay, 13 Ngane Punivai, 12 Josh Ioane, 11 Jona Nareki, 10 Mitch Hunt, 9 Aaron Smith (co-captain), 8 Marino Mikaele Tu’u, 7 Dillon Hunt, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 4 Jesse Parete, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Ayden Johnstone