The Bulls were in comfortable cruise mode in the first half. They stayed in cruise mood for the whole of the match, but the comfort soon gave way to discomfort and eventual defeat by those three tries to none.

As the match wore on the Brumbies, who were meant to succumb to a mixture of altitude and Bull power, got better and better. Any rugby that was played at ardent Loftus Versfeld before a crowd of 41 650 was played by the Brumbies. The Bulls just stayed cruising and got even elementary things wrong.

They were contented that the ball would always be slow from tackles. If it was available they waited and waited to ensure that the Brumbies had posted their sentries right across the field.

They were five points behind and in need of a try but they still threw the ball back many metres for Derick Hougaard to kick.

Kick he did and with three minutes to play he kicked the Bulls into a 21-20 lead with a kick of some 55 metres.

But the Brumbies ended stronger. They gave lessons in running as they had given lessons on defence the whole evening. The Bulls did not learn the lesson. The Brumbies' first try was made possible by weak, weak tackling in midfield. Their last try was also made possible by weak, weak tackling. The middle try, come to think of it, was made possible by weak, weak tackling. The powerful men from Pretoria were weak in the tackle.

After Bakkies Botha was substituted, the Bulls ceased the competition in the line-out which had been a strong point of their game in the first half.

In the first half the Brumbies had two chances to score and they got ten points out of them. The Bulls hoofed the ball over and over at the Brumbies and did not look like scoring a try. But they got three penalties and a drop to lead 12-10 at the break.

The Bulls were leading 9-3 from three penalties by Derick Hougaard to one by Stirling Mortlock when the try came.

A penalty when JP Nel was off-side gave the Brumbies a line-out in Bulls territory. They spun the ball to their right and Matt Giteau broke past first Wynand Olivier, who looked mesmerised, and then JP Nel, who looked startled, and then sent Clyde Rathbone running down the touch-line for a try which the television match official took a long time converting - longer even than it took for David Palavi to throw the ball in at a line-out.

Why Palavi took so long was not apparent as the Brumbies lost five line-outs in the half.

Mortlock, who had an impeccable night, kicked a penalty to start the second-half scoring when the Bulls moved ahead of a kicker. That made it 13-12. Hougaard got the lead back with a penalty when the Brumbies took away the supporting player in a line-out. 15-13 to the Bulls.

Then the Brumbies counterattacked. Sturdy Adam Ashley-Cooper ran brilliantly. Rathbone ran well and there was big Daniel Heenan crashing through two defenders to score. Mortlock converted. 20-15.

That was the score. The Bulls were behind, and yet they played like a team defending a lead.

On 27 minutes of the second half the Brumbies were off-side and Hougaard kicked a long penalty. It had to be a long penalty as the Bulls did not get near enough for a short penalty.

Then with three minutes to go George Smith, the most heroic player on the night, was penalised for holding on and Hougaard kicked an even longer penalty to make it 21-20 and there was joy unbounded in the Land of the Bulls as the stands sprouted blue flags.

But joy was short lived as Joel Wilson cut the defence to ribbons as he raced bast Olivier, who had a nightmare night. Wilson gave to Giteau who cut past two, inside Johan Roets to give to Mortlock who crashed over through two defenders. Mortlock converted. And the final whistle went.

The team that won the match deserved to do so.

Man of the Match: Its hard to find a Bull. Valiantly as Fourie du Preez tried he played in a tunnel. The Brumbies had several stars - Adam Ashley-Cooper at fullback, strong Stirling Mortlock in the centre, Matt Giteau who made two of the three tries with strength and footwork, and our Man of the Match George Smith who played with energy, concentration and skill, winning the tackle hands down against the bigger, slower, unbending Bulls.

The scorers:

For the Bulls:
Pens: Hougaard 6
DG: Hougaard

For the Brumbies:
Tries: Rathbone, Heenan, Mortlock
Cons: Mortlock 3
Pens: Mortlock 2

Teams:

Vodacom Bulls: 15 Johan Roets, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JP Nel, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Jacques Cronjé, 7 Johan Wasserman, 6 Danie Rossouw, 5 Francois van Schouwenburg, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Danie Thiart, 2 Kobus van der Walt, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Chilliboy Ralepelle, 17 Andries Human, 18 Pedrie Wannenburg, 19 Pierre Spies, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Riaan van der Bergh

Brumbies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Clyde Rathbone, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Mark Gerrard, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9  George Gregan, 8 Jone Tawake, 7 George Smith, 6 Daniel Heenan, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Alister Campbell, 3 Nic Henderson, 2 David Palavi, 1 Bill Young.
Replacements: 16 James McCormack, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Adam Wallace-Harrison, 19 Julian Salvi, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Gene Fairbanks, 22 Joel Wilson

Referee: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Television match official: Johan Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor: Keith Hendricks (South Africa)