The restoration of the Lions' Currie Cup campaign continued here but the John Mitchell-inspired Blue Bulls served notice that they are soon to graduate from being viewed as "a work in progress".
This was a cracking match in which fortunes fluctuated and it required a late surge from the Lions to get the job done after the Bulls completely dominated the second half.
The Bulls foisted upon the Lions a brand of rugby which would have resonated with those who watched developments in Albany earlier in the day. The team under a Kiwi coach played with pace into space, which is some departure from the bump and grind that was once the bedrock of their success.
A game that accentuates the movement of the ball wasn't enough against the Lions but the day the current crop of Bulls start operating with a pack with greater grunt may well prove a game changer on the domestic scene. Their ball-in-hand approach carried inherent risk but adroit ball players like No15 Warrick Gelant looked a menace when he ran the ball from deep.
The Lions, by contrast, sought the body contact in the tight exchanges and made headway in territory gained. Just when it looked like that approach was going nowhere, the Bulls started to buckle.
The Lions' scrum, which is again propped up by the experience of Jacobie Adriaanse at tighthead, delivered early body blows. They, however, failed to carry that dominance into the second half...