The Bulls went top of the Super 14 with a 29-20 triumph over the Cheetahs in an all-South African clash on Saturday.
The host Bulls kept a 37,000-plus crowd waiting until the final minute to seal victory over the bottom team.
Wing Bryan Habana, the 2007 International Rugby Board Player of the Year, intercepted a long pass in the Cheetahs backline to notch the 79th-minute touchdown.
PHOTO: AP
A bonus point for scoring four tries lifted the Bulls one ahead of the Waikato Chiefs with one round of matches left.
The Bulls, though, had to fight back from a 20-10 deficit after 50 minutes.
The Bulls can secure a home semi-final if they beat the Sharks in Durban next weekend.
■WARATAHS V SHARKS
REUTERS, CAPE TOWN
A late try by Peter Playford earned the New South Wales Waratahs a 16-12 win over the Sharks in the Super 14 on Saturday.
The bonus point the Sharks picked up for finishing within seven points meant the two teams were level in mid-table on 36 points, still in contention for the playoffs.
Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis was denied a try by the video official and wing JP Pietersen was also unlucky for the Sharks when he had a touchdown ruled out.
The near-misses proved costly when Sharks fullback Stefan Terblanche failed to clear a loose ball in the closing stages and gifted the winning try to Playford.
■STORMERS V FORCE
REUTERS, CAPE TOWN
Fullback Joe Pietersen celebrated his return to the Super 14 for the first time since the opening round with two tries, helping the Stormers beat the Western Force 25-24 on Saturday.
The Force’s slim semi-final hopes were extinguished despite the superb efforts of flyhalf Matt Giteau, who contributed 19 points from two tries, three conversions and a penalty.
The Australians had to win to stay alive.
It was the 12th-placed Stormers’s fourth victory of a season that has been disrupted by a long injury list.
Each side scored three tries although the Stormers should have had four.
Center Dylan Des Fountain produced the howler of the season by dropping the ball after he had crossed the tryline with no defender in sight.
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