Bulls always had 'big game' in them

The Bulls put their Super Rugby campaign back on track with the kind of performance that would make other teams sit up and take note.

Although they were made to work for their 43-35 bonus-point victory over the Sharks in their Super Rugby encounter in Pretoria at the weekend, they believed they had the potential to do just that.

With only three scrums throughout the entire match, Bulls coach Frans Ludeke hailed the quality of the rugby dished up.

"I thought it was an outstanding performance by the team, especially in the situation that we were  - the way the players just coped with the pressure [of losing the first two matches]," Ludeke said.

"We always knew we had this kind of game, so it was really rewarding to even get the bonus point."

Bulls captain Pierre Spies echoed similar sentiments, saying his side believed they had the potential to pull off a big win.

"If you go in order, your first go for the win, so we were obviously going for that and we knew we had it in us to score four tries and we really had to graft it out for 80 minutes," Spies said.

"This was a much better performance with a lot less mistakes and we could put pressure on their set-pieces and convert the pressure into points.

"In this match a few 50-50 calls went our way which is a great feeling compared to the last two weeks."

The victory was the Bulls' first of the season following two straight defeats at their hallowed home ground.

Negating an 11-point Bulls lead to take the lead with nine minutes left in the match, the Sharks would feel a tad unlucky with two crucial calls going against them.

The Bulls' first try of the match produced the first drama when Television Match Official adjudged a Jesse Kriel pass to eventual try-scorer Francois Hougaard to be perfectly legal, while it seemed to be a forward pass.

The Sharks then were denied a try when wing Odwa Ndungane contested the ball in the air but the call was made he had knocked the ball on.

The country's two leading flyhalves went toe-to-toe with both the Sharks' Patrick Lambie and Bulls pivot Handré Pollard demonstrating why they are so highly regarded.

Both players' game management was superb while they also turned in flawless kicking performances as Lambie contributed 25 of his side's points with the boot and 18 went the way of Pollard.

Key to the Bulls' resurgence was the performance of Bulls scrumhalf Rudy Paige, who gave quick flash service to his ball carriers and to Pollard.