The Bulls extended their unbeaten streak over the Lions in Super Rugby to eight straight wins with an 18-32 bonus point victory in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Lions have not beaten the Bulls since 2005 when Super Rugby was known as the Super 12.
The loss for the Lions is their sixth consecutive loss and they remain rooted to the bottom of the table one point below the Blues.
The Lions do however have the bye next week which will give them four points so they could overtake a few teams above them if they lose.
The result moves the Bulls level with the Stormers on points but as the Stormers have more wins they remain above the Bulls despite the Bulls having a better points differential.
The three-time Super rugby champion Bulls were rampant in a 25-minute spell either side of halftime to score 25 unanswered points for a dominant win at their Johannesburg neighbors.
The visitors from Pretoria responded to an early Lions try with scores by Springbok backs Akona Ndungane, Francois Hougaard and Zane Kirchner to go 20-10 up after trailing 10-0.
Flanker CJ Stander went over for a fourth try and a bonus point less than a minute into the second half and lock Juandre Kruger added a fifth.
Captain Joshua Strauss grabbed a consolation try for the struggling Lions, who have lost six straight games. The Bulls and the Stormers are on 29 points after eight rounds, two off new leaders the Waikato Chiefs, who kicked off their South African tour with victory over the Cheetahs earlier on Saturday.
Springbok flyhalf Morne Steyn could only convert two of the Bulls' five tries, but even an off-day from the playmaker in front of goal couldn't hold them back from a comfortable bonus-point victory.
"We didn't deserve to win," Lions coach John Mitchell said. "We showed a lot of immaturity again. There's no bad luck, we deserved to lose."
Lions scrumhalf Tian Meyer had charged down a Steyn clearance and beat fullback Kirchner to the loose ball to score between the posts in the second minute to give the Lions a lightning start.
Jaco Taute launched a long-range penalty after 15 minutes to extend the Lions' lead to 10.
But the Lions were then under pressure for the remainder of the half -and dominated for most of the rest of the match - under a clinical Bulls comeback.
Bulls skipper and No. 8 Pierre Spies broke downfield two minutes after Taute's kick and quick recycling from the breakdown gave winger Ndungane the space to score.
Steyn further reduced the gap to 10-8 with a 25th-minute penalty, and Hougaard went over straight after following a mistake by the Lions at the lineout. It was the scrumhalf's first try of the season.
The Bulls continued their dominance, starving the Lions of possession and after extended pressure at the end of the first 40, fullback Kirchner eventually broke through the defense for a third try and a 20-10 lead at halftime.
The Bulls had replied to the Lions' early try and penalty with 20 unanswered points in 23 minutes.
Stander then had the bonus-point try less than a minute into the second half after Steyn's pinpoint crosskick to right wing Ndungane.
Ndungane collected and cleverly passed inside off the ground for the supporting flanker to go over for the Bulls' fourth.
Steyn missed the conversion and although the No. 10 struggled with his goalkicking, it didn't matter with the Bulls in rampant try-scoring form.
Elton Jantjies gave the Lions brief respite with a 49th-minute penalty for 25-13, but JJ Engelbrecht's swerving run three minutes later set up the Bulls' fifth try.
Engelbrecht stepped inside and raced clear of the Lions backline defenders and found Kruger among a line of Bulls supporting players on his outside to score.
Strauss muscled over after a series of drives by the Lions forwards, but Mitchell's team never threatened the Bulls lead and slipped to a 1 win from 6 record after opening their tournament with a victory.
The Bulls now have record of won 5 and lost 2.
Final Score Lions 18 (10) Bulls 32 (20).
Scorers
Lions
Tries - T. Meyer, J. Taute, J. Strauss
Pen - E. Jantjies
Con - E. Jantjies
Drop -
Cards -
Bulls
Tries - A. Ndungane, F. Hougaard, Z. Kirchner, CJ. Stander, J. Kruger
Pen - M. Steyn
Con - M. Steyn 2
Drop -
Cards -
Match Officials
Referee: Garratt Williamson
Assistant Ref 1: Keith Brown
Assistant Ref 2: Christie Du Preez
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
Teams
Lions
15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Deon van Rensburg, 13. Jaco Taute, 12. Alwyn Hollenbach, 11. James Kamana, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Tian Meyer, 8. Joshua Strauss (capt.), 7. Derick Minnie, 6. Cobus Grobbelaar, 5. Franco van der Merwe, 4. Stephan Greeff, 3. Patric Cilliers, 2. Callie Visagie, 1. Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. CJ van der Linde, 18. Marius Coetzer, 19. Doppies le Roux, 20. Ross Cronje, 21. Butch James, 22. Lionel Mapoe.
Bulls
15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Akona Ndungane, 13. JJ Engelbrecht, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Bjorn Basson, 10. Morne Steyn, 9. Francois Hougaard, 8. Pierre Spies (c), 7. Jacques Potgieter, 6. CJ Stander, 5. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4. Juandre Kruger, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16. Bongi Mbonambi, 17. Frik Kirsten, 18. Dewald Potgieter, 19. Arno Botha, 20. Jano Vermaak, 21. Louis Fouche, 22. Johann Sadie.
