The Bulls overshadowed the Sharks in all aspects of the game and at halftime they were already leading 22-9 thanks to three tries and seven points coming from the boot of Morné Steyn.

The Bulls' hooker Derick Kuün received a yellow card in the first minute after he allegedly stamped on an opponent, but in spite of this the Bulls scored the first of their four tries in the 7th minute when Tiger Mangweni finished off a razor-sharp break by Wynand Olivier.

In the 20th minute Oliver scored his team's second try and nine minutes later Mangweni stretched the Bulls' lead to 22-6 thanks to aggressive hard running by the fullback.

After the break the Bulls managed to keep the Sharks out of their territory but in the 71st minute Albert van den Berg found a hole in the Bulls' defence and scored his team's first and only try.

The Bulls' reserve scrumhalf Francois Hougaard secured the bonus point two minutes before the end and with four tries in the bag the Bulls will be smiling all weekend.

The Bulls were quite impressive from the first to the last minute and it was marvelous to see how hard all the senior Springboks like Danie Rossouw, Wikus van Heerden and Pedrie Wannenburg worked throughout the match.

The Bulls' loose trio succeeded in slowing down the Sharks' ball and it seems as if the Bulls sorted out most of their problems in the lineouts.

The scrums were still a bit scrappy but it is not a major headache at this point in time and guys like Werner Kruger and Jaco Engels did a lot of dirty work in the tight loose.

The backs, in particular Morne Steyn and Wynand Olivier, were very effective and the back three of Mangweni, John Mametsa and Akona Ndungane complimented each other on attack as well as defence.

Scorers:

Vodacom Blue Bulls: Tries: Tiger Mangweni (2), Wynand Olivier, Francois Hougaard. Conversions: Morné Steyn (3). Penalties: Morné Steyn (3).

Sharks: Try: Albert van den Berg. Penalties: Monty Dumond (3).