Bulls charge back to the top
The Bulls maintained their perfect Super 14 record in 2009, defeating the battling Stormers 14-10 at Loftus Versfeld.
Last Updated: 09/03/09 9:57am
Despite a strong fight from the travelling Stormers, the Bulls returned to the top of the Super 14 table with a hard-fought 14-10 victory at Loftus Versfeld.
It was hardly a classic but Frans Ludeke's side won't mind a jot as they leap-frogged the Sharks and Waratahs to make it four from four in 2009.
The Stormers came out fighting, possibly due to being written off in many quarters before the all-South African contest.
And with the late decision to shift star flanker Schalk Burger to bench duty, their mammoth task seemed to grow even larger in the hostile atmosphere that is Pretoria.
Positional best
But what they lacked in forward prescence, they made up for in assurance at the back and at pivot with Percy Montgomery and Willem de Waal at their positional best, putting the Capetonians in all the right places with safe options during the first half.
As expected, the game was fairly tight and remained deadlocked up until the second quarter - just as the Bulls started to gain some ascendancy with Pierre Spies and company lending their considerable bulk.
Referee Craig Joubert was beginning to lose his patience with the Stormers' continued offences though, and, with the long overdue warning coming alongside a full-arm penalty on 24 minutes, Morné Steyn slotted over the opening points.
De Waal was on-target with a levelling drop-goal nine minutes later before hooker Schalk Brits was sent to the sin-bin for hands in a ruck.
Either side of the yellow card, Luke Watson pulled winger Gerhard van den Heever's shirt over his head before gauding the crowd.
However, a raft of territorial kicking continued to blight the contest right up until half-time.
Quick thinking
There was much more to shout about upon the turnaround though, as Fourie du Preez's quick thinking from a free-kick brought Akona Ndungane into the line before the wing handed Wynand Olivier the game's first try.
Frans Ludeke and Rassie Erasmus then called on their Springboks as Victor Matfield and Burger made their respective bows to the contest, with the scores still finely poised at 14-3 in favour of the Bulls.
But it was another replacement, hooker Deon Fourie, who stole the limelight with a show that saw him race over under the posts for seven points. Were the underdogs about to upset the title-hopefuls?
They came close but it was the Bulls who ended the 80 minutes on the front foot as Du Preez's smart calls saw them return to the summit.
