Chiefs beat the Bulls 41-28 in Super Rugby

Published Mar. 16, 2018 4:59 a.m. ET

HAMILTON, New Zealand (AP) The Hamilton-based Chiefs rallied from 21-7 down in the first half to beat South Africa's Bulls 41-28 in the only Super Rugby match Friday.

The Bulls overwhelmed the Chiefs in the first half with an unexpected display of running rugby. But the Chiefs hit back with four second-half tries to take a win which was made contentious when the Bulls had a potentially decisive try disallowed for obstruction in the 59th minute.

Embrose Papier appeared to have scored a try which would have given the Bulls a 35-26 lead with 21 minutes remaining, but the video referee ruled lock Lodewyk de Jager obstructed his opposite Brodie Retallick and the try was disallowed.

The Bulls also lost replacement prop Conraad van Vuuren to a yellow card late in the match. The Chiefs were able to score two tries in the last 10 minutes and in van Vuuren's absence to turn a narrow win into a more comfortable one.

''We had to dig deep,'' Chiefs captain Sam Cane said. ''The Bulls are really playing with the ball this year and they scored some outstanding tries tonight.They had us under the pump early and it took a bit of a fightback.''

A try to winger Solomon Alaimalo after van Vuuren had been dismissed made the lead 34-28 and a late try to center Anton Lienert-Brown made the game safe.

''I think there were some great moments tonight but just too many mistakes at the end of the day,'' Bulls captain Burger Odendaal said. ''Hats off to the Chiefs, they capitalized on every mistake we made and turned it into points.''