The Bulls survived a second-half resurgence by the Pumas to win their Currie Cup encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
As it happened | Currie Cup - Bulls v Pumas
The Bulls won 32-27 after leading 17-3 at half-time.
The Bulls scored tries through debutant Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Cornal Hendricks and David Kriel, while Etienne Taljaard, Eddie Fouche and Tapiwa Mafura got themselves on the try column for the Pumas.
In the 10th minute, the Pumas won a kickable penalty from the scrum and Eddie Fouche made no mistake.
Four minutes later, the Bulls managed to pick it up after a boot forward and they set up a ruck inside the 10 of the Pumas. The visitors scrambled to defend as the Bulls stretched them from wing to wing.
They finally found a way through the middle with Vorster for a try on his debut since moving from the Lions. Chris Smith converted to make it 7-3 to the hosts.
The game went through a bit of a lull and stop-start period before Smith extended the Bulls' lead to seven after the Pumas gave away a penalty at the ruck while defending at their 22.
After a slow start, Jake White's men were clicking into gear. The Bulls took the restart kick after Fouche's missed penalty and immediately won possession back. They sent it out wide quickly as the Pumas scrambled to match them man for man and Tambwe found himself unmarked and ran down the wing to score the Bulls' second try.
Four minutes after the break, the visitors dotted down for their first try. They made it to the 5 along the flank and then sent it to the opposite side and Fouche gave a grubber through to Taljaard who ran onto it to dive over the whitewash.
Fouche converted but Smith restored the lead to 20-10 with a penalty. And then the Bulls went over for their third try. Their driving maul was halted before it was sent wide to Hendricks for the score in the corner.
The Pumas responded when Fouche collected his own kick through for a brilliant individual try. And then Mafura dotted down after a quick break from the men from Mpumalanga with Fouche converting to reduce the deficit to just one point at 24-25.
However, the Bulls put the result beyond doubt when Tambwe ran it down the flank, drawing in two. The ruck gave them time and they shifted to the other wing, where the Pumas were outnumbered as Kriel got in on the overlap to score and secure the victory.
Next week the Bulls will travel to Bloemfontein as they face the Cheetahs on Wednesday, 30 June (16:00), while the Pumas host the Griquas on Friday, 2 July (16:00).
Scorers:
Bulls 32 (17)
Tries: Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Cornal Hendricks, David Kriel
Conversions: Chris Smith (2)
Penalties: Smith (2)
Pumas 27 (3)
Tries: Etienne Taljaard, Eddie Fouche, Tapiwa Mafura
Conversions: Fouche (2)
Penalties: Fouche (2)
Teams:
Bulls
15 Gio Aplon, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Ruan Nortje, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Muller Uys, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Zak Burger, 22 FC du Plessis, 23 David Kriel
Pumas
15 Devon Williams, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Matt More, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Eddie Fouche, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 4 Darrien Landsberg, 3 Marne Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Dewald Maritz
Substitutes: 16 Eduan Swart, 17 Ruan Kramer, 18 Ig Prinsloo, 19 Brandon Valentyn, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Wayne van der Bank, 23 Jade Stighling