The game happened in the last quarter. For an hour it was pedestrian and then it flared into life before lapsing back into somnolence again.

In a period of just 11 minutes all the match's tries were scored, all four of them.

The Bulls dominated territory and possession, and the Waratahs looked down and out, losing 26-3 with a quarter of an hour left. Then the Waratahs made it a contest.

Not only did they score two thrilling tries but they also destroyed the Bulls' scrums. The Bulls missed more tackles than they did and yet somehow they ended the match where they started it - in Waratah territory.

The Bulls' belief that slow ball is better than quick ball at the tackle slowed the ball down to immobility at times. In fact, they believe that slower ball is even better than slow ball. When the ball is available they are contented to stand around trying to get ponderous forwards into some sort of position to plod some more.

The first half was characterised by kicking, rumbling and grumbling. Apart from one concerted attack by the Bulls that took them to the Waratahs' line not a lot happened that was exciting, and that particular attack died when Rocky Elsom and Adam Freier were penalised and spoken to for killing the ball.

It was a prolonged bout of fighting that was the main interest in the half. It ended with the Waratahs penalised and Matt Dunning in the sin bin, but the activities of Jaco Engels and Rocky Elsom will surely engage the interest of the citing commissioner - and a member of the Waratah management who became emotional and involved.

The Bulls enjoyed a majority of territory. Derick Hougaard kicked two penalties before Peter Hewat kicked one for the Waratahs to make it 6-3 after 29 minutes. Hougaard then kicked another two, the second after that big Bulls' attack with Jacques Cronjé and Bakkies Botha close to the line.

Oh, there was another moment of excitement right at the start of the half when the Bulls got the ball to Odwa Ndungane who tip-toed down the touch-line and went on to score but he was adjudged to have put a bit of a foot on the line.

It took 56 minutes into the match before the first try. It started with the Bulls attacking in the left corner where Botha was close but ruled to have lost the ball tackle, which made a five-metre scrum to the Waratahs. The Bulls turned the scrum and got the put-in as a result. Cronjé charged and then Rossouw charged and suddenly there was quick ball. Fourie du Preez fed Hougaard who threw a perfect pass a long way to his right where JP Nel had an easy run-in. 19-3.

Five minutes later Du Preez hoisted another kick over his forwards. Peter Hewat dropped it and Cronjé footed it on. There was a darting Bryan Habana, reining himself in to gather the ball and dive over. Again Hougaard converted. 26-3.

Suddenly, from deep in his own territory, David Lyons, on as a replacement, cut past Pedrie Wannenburg and straight down the field. Berne carried it on and the Waratahs were at the Bulls' line. The Bulls went off-side. The Waratahs tapped and charged. When they were stopped at the Bulls' line, Elsom picked up and dived over the tackle/ruck to score. Hewat converted. 26-10.

From the kick-off Norton-Knight cut clean through. Challenged, he slipped a splendid pass to Hewat who raced away with just speed enough and footwork enough to score at the posts. He converted. 26-17 with 12 minutes to play.

In that time the nearest to a score came from Ndungane. For the rest the Bulls pushed the Waratahs back into defeat.

Man of the Match: Sam Norton-Knight had his second good match in South Africa and Lote Tuqiri always took looking after. For the Bulls, Wynand Olivier proved that he can tackle and Bryan Habana had electric moments on attack and one scything tackle, but our man-of-the-match award goes to lock François Schouwenburg who caught line-out balls and kick-offs and threw concentrated weight into everything he did.

The scorers:

For the Bulls:
Tries: Nel, Habana
Cons: Hougaard 2
Pens: Hougaard 4

For the Waratahs:
Tries: Elsom, Hewat
Cons: Hewat 2
Pens: Hewat

Yellow card: Matt Dunning (Waratahs, 6)

Teams:

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

Waratahs: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Peter Hewat, 13 Morgan Turinui, 12 Shaun Berne, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Chris Whitaker (captain), 8 Stephen Hoiles, 7 Phil Waugh (vice-captain), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 4 Alex Kanaar, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Will Caldwell, 19 Wycliff Palu, 20 David Lyons, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Ben Jacobs

Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Christie du Preez (South Africa)
Television match official: Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)
Assessor: James Apollis (South Africa)