The Bulls will long remember their few days on the shores of New Zealand's Lake Taupo. It was time put to good use last week as the men from Pretoria put right the mistakes that cost them the previous weekend in Auckland

They battled at Waikato Stadium on Friday to overcome the Chiefs and with 65 minutes gone the game was still wide open. But in the end the reigning Super 14 champions beat the injury-hit home side by four tries to one, opening up a gap at the top of the log.

"For us it's pleasing. We really dug deep this week," Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said afterwards. "We had a great preparation. We had some good lessons from the Blues game we took into this one."

The win over the Chiefs was their first in Hamilton.

"It's always great to win in New Zealand. It's the toughest place to tour in the world, so we're happy with the performance tonight," said Bulls skipper Victor Matfield. "The guys today showed a lot of character. They wanted to come back and they showed it out there. They just gave their all."

Stung by the criticism of their recent set-piece performances, the Chiefs pack nullified the Bulls' usually potent lineout drive and it took a freakish tap-down inside pass to Gerhard van den Heever, zooming in off the blind-side wing, by Morne Steyn to produce the first try.

That was quickly rubbed out by halfback Brendon Leonard's opportunist try for the Chiefs, toeing through a chip kick on halfway from young fullback Tim Nanai-Williams.

The Bulls still went to halftime leading 15-13. Hard-running centre Wyand Olivier constantly tested the Chiefs' defence but their best success came with their big ball runners - like try scorer Pierre Spies and lock Danie Rossouw - running hard on clever angles.

Both Morne Steyn and Chiefs inside centre Stephen Donald were having off-days with the boot, Steyn hitting five of nine kicks at goal and Donald five of eight.

Two early Donald penalties to one by Steyn and a ploy by the home side to move the big Bulls pack around the field brought hope and a 19-18 lead for the Chiefs, but a controversial penalty call by Jonathan Kaplan 16 minutes into the second spell enabled Steyn to put his side ahead 21-19.

It was the sixth time the lead changed and the last. The Bulls looked vulnerable for a while, their fitness severely tested. But when the going gets tough the champion players stand up, and Fourie du Preez split the defence with a 40m break that put his team firmly on attack.

Six phases of goal-line attack later hooker Gary Botha powered over to give the Bulls some breathing space, the conversion making it 28-19.

A Du Preez intercept on his own 22 looked to have brought him a try but assistant referee Kane McBride pointed out a late, no-arms tackle by Deon Stegmann on Sione Lauaki several phases earlier, and play was brought back for a Chiefs penalty.

Donald missed it and again the Bulls' seasoned campaigners stepped up to put their side back on attack. It all provided the momentum that finally brought the bonus-point try to flanker Dewald Potgieter .

Scorers

Chiefs 19 - Try: Brendon Leonard. Conversion: Stephen Donald. Penalties: Stephen Donald (4).

Bulls 33 - Tries: Gerhard van den Heever, Pierre Spies, Gary Botha, Dewald Potgieter. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2). Penalties: Morne Steyn (3).