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The Bulls Akona Ndungane - Source: Getty Images -
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The Bulls beat the Lions 16-9 in an all-South African Super 14 derby in Johannesburg on Sunday to record their third straight win in the tournament.
The 2007 champions had already enjoyed comprehensive home victories over Australia's Queensland Reds and New Zealand's Auckland Blues in the opening two rounds.
In a first half played in torrential rain, the Bulls opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Springbok number eight Pierre Spies dived over near the posts after good work from right wing Akona Ndungane.
Flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked the difficult conversion to make it 7-0 before extending the lead to 16-0 by the 35th minute thanks to three excellent long-range penalties.
The Lions finally got on to the scoresheet in the second half when flyhalf Andre Pretorius succeeded with a 50th-minute penalty goal that cut the deficit to 13 points.
Pretorius slotted his second kick in the 62nd minute to make it 16-6 but was then replaced by Earl Rose, who picked up where his fellow international had left off by kicking a penalty in the 72nd minute that cut the lead to seven points.
Rose's appearance proved to be nothing more than a short-lived cameo after he was sin-binned for a dangerous challenge on Bulls scrumhalf Fourie du Preez with five minutes remaining.
