The Blues beat the Bulls 38-14 at QBE Stadium in North Harbour after a second half try-blitz.
Matt Duffie scored a brace and the Blues, five tries to one in the second half, to record their second win of the campaign.
The teams went into the break all square at 7-all after an early try by Augustine Pulu was cancelled out by Lizo Gqoboka in a tight first 40.
But the Blues were in a dominant mood in the second period and the Bulls wilted.
The New Zealand side got off to the perfect start when Pulu scored after good line-out work by Jerome Kaino.
Rieko Ioane spread the ball to Michael Collins who popped a wonderful offload out the back door to Melani Nanai, the fullback regathered from Nanai and sent the scrumhalf away to score. Francis added the easy extras for a 7-nil start.
The bulls levelled soon after. Gqoboka scored his first try from close range and Handré Pollard tied from close range.
That was about as good as it would get for the Pretoria men as the 7-all halftime scoreline blew out, during the following 40 minutes.
Matt Duffie got the next two tries inside 10 minutes. On 46 minutes, George Moala got a move going with a great offload, Pollard attempted a tackle but, Collins, on the run, gave it to Duffie, who slipped the flyhalf’s tackle and give the home team the lead.
The second came nine minutes later after some short drives, Piers Francis, put in a lovely little dink across the field for the winger who, collected and scored in the right-hand corner.
The conversion was missed but, the score was already 19-7.
Ihaia West scored the Blues’ fourth after Patrick Tuipulotu burst through some weak tackling and surged 40 metres into the Bulls 22.
Nothing came of it but, two minutes later, the big lock offloaded a pass to West. The standoff turned on the burners and scored in the corner for the bonus-point try.
The floodgates opened. Duffie sends Moulds over after some wonderful interplay by the backs. Ioane gave a quick ball to the wing to set up the score. West’s conversion from out wide made it 31-7.
Two minutes later, a burst from Collins inside his 22, started an 80-metre move which Nanai finished.
West collected the fullback’s pass and popped the ball to the supporting Rieko Ioane who, drew the defence and put the winger away.
Rudy Paige’s scored after the hooter from a quick-tap free kick. The loss consigned the South Africans to their fourth defeat in five games.
Final score is Blues 38 (7) Bulls 14 (7)
Scorers
Blues
Tries – Pulu, Duffie (2), West, Moulds, Nanai
Pen –
Con – Francis (2), West (2)
Drop –
Cards – YELLOW CARD (Jimmy Tupou, 58th minute)
Bulls
Tries – Gqoboka, Paige
Pen –
Con – Pollard, Schoeman
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant Ref 1: Will Houston
Assistant Ref 2: Nick Briant
TMO: Ben Skeen
Teams
Blues
15 Michael Collins, 14 Matt Duffie, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 George Moala, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Blake Gibson, 6 Jimmy Tupou, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 James Parsons (captain), 1 Pauliasi Manu
Replacements: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Sione Mafileo, 19 Akira Ioane, 20 Murphy Taramai, 21 Billy Guyton 22 Ihaia West, 23 TJ Faiane
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Nick de Jager, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Rudolph Snyman, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Burger Odendaal, 23 John-Roy Jenkinson
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