The Hurricanes piled more misery on the struggling Bulls when they came out 34-20 victors in their Super Rugby match at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Hurricanes scored five tries to two to record an important bonus win as far as the New Zealand conference is concerned.
The New Zealanders showed their intentions -- and wide range of skills from No 1 to No 15 -- when they opened the scoring as early as the second minute of the clash.
From a ruck in the Bulls' half, prop Loni Uhila put fullback Jordie Barrett into a gap with a lovely pop pass. Barrett still had a lot of work to do to score, but a pathetic attempt at a tackle by Bulls flyhalf Tiaan Schoeman helped him to get over the line.
The Bulls, fresh from the announcement of John Mitchell as their new executive of rugby, showed a lot more fight than they have in previous weeks. They drew level in fifth minute of the match when debutant wing Duncan Matthews crossed the tryline, after he caught a high ball and exchanged a few passes with Jan Serfontein.
The Bulls' poor tackling has been one of the reasons for their decline this season, and their frailties against big, hard-running backs were again exposed against the Hurricanes.
A bit of areal ping-pong led to a lineout for the New Zealand side just inside the Bulls half. Scrumhalf JT Perenara then found Ngani Laumape from the set piece, and the big centre brushed off a few poor tackles before sprinting to the line to score.
The Bulls kept in touch with two Schoeman penalties, but it was the Hurricanes who finished the half strong with two tries. Wes Goosen rounded off from lineout in the Bulls' 22 in the 36th minute, before Mark Abbott went over after the hooter after some patient build-up play by the visitors.
The Hurricanes took their foot off the pedal in the second half, but the Bulls' attack just didn't have enough bite to trouble the New Zealanders. The Bulls' maul, which was employed many times during the second half, was useless, while their backs couldn't handle the Hurricanes' line speed.
The Hurricanes scored their only try of the second half in the 60th minute when hooker Leni Apisai went over to score. The Bulls had many opportunities in the Hurricanes' half, but could only show one try for their efforts which came via Nick de Jager in the 77th minute.