Rugby: Unbeaten Bulls eye Soweto as possible playoffs venue

The unbeaten Bulls are talking about defending their Super 14 crown in the township of Soweto while their usual Loftus stronghold is being polished for World Cup soccer matches.

That scenario has some distance to go before the Bulls can confirm hosting rights for the playoffs but there will be great intrigue about the impact of a venue shift to the 41,500-seat Orlando Stadium which has undergone a R300m (NZ$58 million) facelift.

The Bulls have agreed to any playoffs move away from Loftus in May because the arena will be undergoing a clean stadium makeover for the start of Fifa's showpiece.

At Loftus, the Bulls have been unbeatable in the Super 14 since the Hurricanes belted them last year.

The visitors had a chance of repeating that result on Saturday but were worn down and beaten 19-18 by the Bulls mauling and driving play backed up by Morne Steyn's boot.

It was a more robust challenge from the visitors but their third straight loss and they now head home to face last year's losing finalists, the Sharks, who rediscovered a winning formula against the Highlanders.

Meanwhile, the Bulls do not look like they will surrender their unbeaten record as they head for Perth to play the basement battlers the Force at the start of a four-game Australasian expedition.

After that stretch they will get Bakkies Botha, Akona Ndugane and Chiliboy Ralepelle back from the injured roster.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said the series start and schedule had panned out perfectly. His team could prepare at home this week before travelling to meet a Force team down on players, luck and results.

This season the Bulls had worked hard to improve their conditioning, scrummaging and discipline to counter the effects of the changing law interpretations.

That combination spelt problems for the Hurricanes who have slumped to a 3-3 record, although coach Colin Cooper was much happier with their work than he had been in their previous two games on tour.

He was concerned, though, with rulings from referee Steve Walsh about the Hurricanes' methods of defending rolling mauls with loose forward Victor Vito sinbinned late in the game.

The Stormers are second on the points table with a solitary loss and have a bye this week before they head for Australia and New Zealand.

They will have an anxious wait to check the health of goalkicking fullback Joe Pietersen for the tour after he quit the derby win against the Cheetahs at halftime.

While skipper Victor Matfield was claiming his 100th cap for the Bulls, Blues captain Keven Mealamu celebrated the same honour for the Blues in their rollicking 39-34 win against the Brumbies.

A four-try blitz soon after halftime dragged the Blues from a deficit to a handy lead which they maintained in a match of high tempo.

New centre Rene Ranger was the standout individual with his bludgeoning attack, while Jerome Kaino and Viliame Ma'afu in the pack with five-eighths Stephen Brett and Benson Stanley delivered quality contributions.