Cape Town - The Lions have outclassed a hapless Bulls side, running out 51-14 winners in a one-side South African Super Rugby derby played in Johannesburg.
Ruan Combrinck was a late change to the Lions side, coming in for the injured Sylvian Mahuza on the wing and he was on the scoreboard as early as the first minute, crossing for the first of the home side's seven tries on the night.
Although the Bulls answered with an excellent converted score of their own through centre Jan Serfontein, the Lions soon raced into a 27-7 lead after just 25 minutes.
This was thanks to two Elton Jantjies penalties as well as two converted tries by flank Kwagga Smith and prop Ruan Dreyer.
The Bulls scored their second of the match soon after through Jessie Kriel but Lions captain Warren Whiteley added yet another try after he charged down a clearance kick to dot down in the right-hand corner.
Another unconverted Combrinck try on half-time saw the home side take a deserved 39-14 lead into the break.
The second half was a more subdued affair with the Lions scoring two tries through lock Franco Mostert and centre Lionel Mapoe.
With only 37% of the possession and territory, however, the Bulls were simply never in the game.
Next week the Lions take on Kings in Johannesburg while the Bull entertain the travelling Hurricanes.
Scorers
Lions
Tries: Combrinck (2), Smith, Dreyer, Whiteley, Mostert, Mapoe
Conversions: Jantjies
Penalties: Jantjies (2)
Bulls
Tries: Serfontein, Kriel
Conversions: Brummer (2)
Teams
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Jacques Nel, 23 Anthony Volmink
Bulls
15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Coenraad van Vuuren, 19 Abongile Nonkontwana, 20 Nic de Jager, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Tony Jantjies, 23 Warrick Gelant