The Bulls managed a hard fought 24-24 draw with the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday morning to maintain hope of making it to the knockout stages of Super Rugby.
As a result of this share of the spoils the Bulls ensured that they ended the New Zealand leg of their Australasian tour unbeaten as they also played to a 22-22 draw with the Blues last weekend in Auckland.
They have moved to second spot below the Jaguares on the SA Conference with 36 points but they may be overtaken by the Lions or Stormers who played yesterday.
This situation also means that they must beat the Lions at Loftus next weekend and hope that other results go their way on the final day of the round-robin stages to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the play-offs.
On Friday the Highlanders were first to score when Josh McKay got the opening try after he received the ball from a box kick by Aaron Smith in the 12th minute.
In the 22nd minute the Highlanders pulled away when Waisake Naholo got their second try on the corner after he was released by a chip kick from Sio Tomkinson.
A few minutes later the Bulls reduced the deficit to five points when Divan Rossouw went over and Handré Pollard converted.
Shortly after the hour mark, McKay scored his second try of the match following a break from Rob Thompson that was converted by Josh Ioan, but the Bulls replied immediately through a try by Jason Jenkins.
The two teams went at each other after the restart and it took 13 minutes before a try was scored by Naholo, who dotted down for his second of the match as the home side increased their advantage.
Pollard reduced the deficit when he successfully converted the only penalty kick of the match, and they levelled the score late in the game through a try by Jaco Visagie that was easily converted by Pollard.
In the other match on Friday the Reds snapped a 15-match losing run against New Zealand opposition by beating the Blues 29-28 in Brisbane.
Scott Higginbotham's second try in the 77th minute and Bryce Hegarty's pressure-cooker conversion from out wide sealed the come-from-behind victory as the Reds held on for just their sixth win of the season. Higginbotham became Super Rugby's greatest trys corer by dotting down for his first of two in the 21st minute on his farewell at Suncorp Stadium.
Highlanders(19) 24
Bulls(14) 24
Highlanders - Tries: Josh McKay (2), Waisake Naholo (2); Conversions: Josh Ioane (2)
Bulls: Tries: Divan Rossouw, Jason Jenkins, Jaco Visagie; Conversions:Handré Pollard (3); Penalty: Handré Pollard (1)
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