The Vodacom Bulls ran in three tries to secure a much-needed 21-13 win over the Lions in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Bulls backed up last weekend’s win over the Lions with a victory in the return fixture to complete the double over their provincial rivals.

It marked the first time the Bulls have registered back-to-back victories in the competition.

The match was not a great advert for South African rugby, delivering a dire contest with no thrill factor to speak of.

Be that as it may, the Lions started brightly as they controlled the early exchanges. Ill-discipline and poor handling were at the forefront of the Bulls’ efforts during the same period, allowing the visitors to take a six-point lead via the boot of Tiaan Swanepoel.

The Bulls soon cleaned up their act and ran in two tries – by forwards Marcell Coetzee and Johan Grobbelaar – to log a 14-6 lead at the break.

One of the Lions’ strenghts was their scrummaging, which won them several penalties in the first half, but the moment both teams made changes to their respective front rows, the set-piece momentum shifted the way of the Bulls.

Growing in confidence, the Bulls started to string together longer sequences and when they won penalties, opted to kick for touch instead of lining up attempts st goal.

One such decision led to a try for former Blitzbok speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse in the right-hand corner.

The Lions somehow wrestled back the ascendancy at scrum time and when they won a penalty at the set piece, they too opted to kick for touch and lock Ruben Schoeman powered over from the subsequent lineout to make it an eight-point game with as many minutes remaining.

But there was no denying the Bulls, who quashed any hopes of a Lions comeback late in the match when they hoofed the ball into touch as soon as the full-time siren sounded.