Bulls 32 Force 29
The Western Force's Super 14 finals prospects suffered a massive blow with a 32-29 loss to the Bulls in Pretoria.
The Force scored four tries to three, but the Bulls capitalised on some undisciplined play to kick five penalties to one to consolidate third spot on the ladder.
The Force picked up two bonus points, but remain in ninth spot, five points behind the fourth-placed Sharks and needing to win both their remaining games against the Stormers and Highlanders and hope a series of other results go their way.
The Bulls raced clear in the third quarter and held on against the fast-finishing Force, who twice led briefly in the first half.
The win moved the Bulls up to 37 points, two behind the log-leading Hurricanes, equal with the Chiefs and and back above the Sharks, who earlier defeated the Highlanders 23-15 in Durban.
The Force led 5-3 after fullback Drew Mitchell pounced on a perfectly judged chip kick from five-eighth Matt Giteau.
Springboks winger Bryan Habana zipped through the Force defence to put the Bulls 8-7 up.
A 35th-minute Giteau penalty gave the Force a 10-8 advantage, but prop Werner Kruger crashed over the line just before the break to give the home side a 15-10 halftime lead.
The Bulls dominated the third quarter, piling on the first 11 points of the half.
Fullback Zane Kirchner rounded off a fluent team move 57 seconds after the restart and though five-eighth Morne Steyn missed the conversion, he kicked two penalties to establish a 26-10 lead.
Force winger Cameron Shepherd crossed after a well-executed move from a lineout to narrow the gap but Steyn kicked another penalty to extend the Bulls' lead to 29-15.
A converted try to replacement Josh Tatupu got the Force to within seven points but a further penalty to Burton Francis, who took over the kicking duties while Steyn was sin-binned for an illegal tackle, pushed the lead back into double figures.
A converted try to centre Ryan Cross slashed the deficit to three inside the last three minutes, but the Force couldn't score again.
- AAP
