Four Morné Steyn drop-goals put the Bulls into their second Super Rugby Final, their first at home, after they beat the Crusaders 36-23 in their semifinal at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Bulls will host the Chiefs, New Zealand's top team, in Pretoria next Saturday.

But for now they can celebrate their 10th successive Super Rugby victory at Loftus.

And they have plenty of reasons to celebrate, coming back from being 7-20 down to score 20 unanswered points in an eight-minute blitz and then pushing on to race clear in the end.

The accolades, deservedly, will go to Steyn for his great kicking, but save a few cheers for a pack of forwards that muscled up when it mattered most.

The Bulls were being moved around in the early stages, as the Crusaders kept taking the ball away from the contact area and keeping the pace high.

The Bulls' kicking game was also not as accurate as you have come to expect from them ion the first quarter and the Crusaders looked the more assured of the two sides.

And in the contact situation the Crusaders also matched the Bulls every step of the way.

However, once the Bulls started to control the ball instead of kicking it away, and started to play with more pace, they also found space in the Crusaders' defensive lines.

They also controlled the ball much better after the half-time break, not allowing the Crusaders to run as freely as they did in the first 20 minutes.

All credit to the forwards, all of them, for knuckling down and doing the dirty work - with Fourie du Preez and Morné Steyn getting the Bulls into scoring opportunities with their famed kicking game.

The Crusaders were quickly into their stride and from a counter, with some really good hands, they were into the Bulls 22. But at the vital moment their hands let them down.

However, the first scrum became a free kick to the Crusaders and three resets later the visitors had won a penalty. That gave Stephen Brett and early scoring opportunity and he made no mistake, giving his team a 3-0 lead after six minutes.

The Bulls, applying great pressure soon charged down an attempted Leon MacDonald clearance, but the bounce just didn't favour the home team.

But the real magic came moments later, when Bryan Habana split the Crusaders defence from a ruck - classic Habana pace and opportunism. Morné Steyn added the conversion to make it 7-3 after 12 minutes.

The Crusaders were not about to roll over and from a Bulls mistake and a scrum near the 22 they found space on the left, where Adam Whitelock went over in the corner with two defenders hanging on trying, to push him into touch. However, the TMO awarded the try. Leon MacDonald took the touchline conversion and made no mistake - 10-7 after 15 minutes.

The free kicks continued to mount against the Bulls, who soon found themselves defending inside their 22 again and then a penalty - a very questionable decision at best gave MacDonald another shot at goal. With Victor Matfield protesting vehemently, MacDonald landed the penalty for a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

And a few minutes later the Bulls were again standing under their own uprights - as the Bulls failed to collect a high kick and Kieran Reid plucked the ball from the air and flopped over for the Crusaders' second try.

It took the Bulls almost 10 minutes to regain their composure enough to put something constructive together and when it came it was points. With the forwards taking it up strongly, the Bulls worked the blindside and Akona Ndungane was clear - n the crucial pas coming from Fourie du Preez. Steyn added the conversion to Ndungane's try and at 14-20 the Bulls were back in the game.

The next crucial play was a yellow card to Crusaders No.8 Thomas Waldrom - with just over five minutes left in the half.

And in the remaining five minutes Steyn knocked over two drop-goals - sweetly-timed, precision efforts - and Pierre Spies sprinted 60 metres for his team's third try.

It was a great score, with the Bulls countering from deep inside their own territory and the No.8 using his blistering pace to beat the cover.

Steyn's conversion gave the Bulls a 27-20 lead, 20 unanswered points in the final eight minutes of the half.

Waldrom made his re-entry after five minutes of the restart in the second half, but in those opening minutes the Bulls could not replicate their late blitz of the first half.

In fact the Crusaders were the first to score after the break, with scrumhalf Andy Ellis matching Steyn with a sweetly-timed drop-goal - set up by a series of pick-'n-drives.

As was the case in the first half, the Bulls were at the wrong end of a series of free kicks, awarded by referee Bryce Lawrence.

The Bulls looked like the next to score, as Jaco Pretorius came in on a great angle, but a forward-pass call from a touch judge nullified the effort - leaving the Bulls narrowly ahead at 27-23, going into the final quarter.

With momentum in their favour the Bulls launched another powerful raid, but they took it just two phases too many and allowed the Crusaders to recover and get their defensive lines back in place. IN the end the Bulls coughed up the ball five metres from the Crusaders' line.

The Bulls, finally finding favour with the referee, won two line-out penalties in quick succession - with Steyn having a go at the posts with the second of those. It was sweet and true, a vital three points with 13 minutes left - 30-23.

And a third drop-goal a minute later put the Bulls two scores clear at 33-23.

He sealed the win with his fourth drop-goal from over 50 metres out as the game entered the final 10 minutes - meaning the Crusaders needed to score two converted tries to regain the lead.

And now the flow of penalties and free kicks also went against the Crusaders.

The Bulls now controlled possession with a series of pick-'n-go moves, as well as a classic rolling maul.

As the minutes ticked away, you could sense the frustration of the Crusaders building, but they could do nothing from a Bulls team - who by now was in full control of proceedings.

Man of the match: None of the of the Crusaders were better than No.8 Thomas Waldrom, who provided the physical grunt they needed to match the Bulls up front. However, the real heroes were all in blue. Bryan Habana has found his magic and added a great work ethic to that. Fourie du Preez dictated terms behind the pack and was the man that gave the Bulls direction. Pierre Spies, with his pace and power, provided the go-forward the Bulls wanted. However, our awards goes to Bulls flyhalf Morné Steyn - with his precision kicking game, both out of hand and at goal, and a great all-round game providing the match-winning difference. He may well have kicked himself into the Springbok team.

Moment of the match: We could go for the four Morné Steyn drop-goals, as they were crucial. However, the turning point came in the last 10 minutes before the half-time break - two crucial plays inside as many minutes. First there was wing Akona Ndungane's try and Thomas Waldrom's yellow card, which gave the Bulls the momentum they never relinquished.

Villain of the match: It was hard, uncompromising and at times brutal. But nothing nasty. However, Thomas Waldrom will rue his yellow card, as that gave the Bulls the edge.

The scorers:

For the Bulls:
Tries: Habana, Ndungane, Spies
Cons: Steyn 3
Pen: Steyn
DGs: Steyn 4

For the Crusaders:
Tries: Whitelock, Reid
Cons: MacDonald 2
Pens: Brett, MacDonald
DG: Ellis

Yellow card: Thomas Waldrom (Crusaders, 35 - professional foul, slowing down the ball)

Teams:

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Jaco Pretorius, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.

Crusaders: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Jared Payne, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Adam Whitelock, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 9 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Jason Macdonald, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Daniel Perrin, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Michael Paterson, 19 George Whitelock, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Hamish Gard.

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

365

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