PRETORIA - First five-eighths Glen Jackson scored 24 points as the Chiefs boosted their Super 12 playoff hopes with a nail-biting 49-37 victory over the Bulls.
Jackson kicked a 73rd-minute drop goal to steady his side's nerves after the Bulls had come back from a 22-point deficit to trail by just
39-37 as time ran down.
His coolly taken kick from 30 metres reopened the lead to five points, but his side were not safe until he followed it with an intercept.
Sprinting 60 metres to claim the winning try with the final move of the match.
The Chiefs scored six tries to the Bulls' five, taking maximum five points to move into fifth place in the Super 12 standings, three behind the Highlanders with a game in hand.
The Bulls had recovered from the shock of conceding four tries in the first half as the Chiefs' pacy backline ran riot against a home side suffering their eight successive defeat.
Fullback Casper Steyn scored first for the home side, delighting the Bulls' crowd with a try in the first minutes of the match.
But a quick response from Marty Holah followed by three tries in nine minutes from fullback Loki Crichton, hooker Paul Mitchell and number eight Deon Muir carried the Chiefs into a 32-10 lead.
Jackson converted three of the tries and added a penalty to keep the score mounting.
In contrast, Steyn failed to convert his own try and a second scored by Joost van der Westhuizen.
He also missed two penalties before being replaced by Boeta Wessels.
Crichton was yellow-carded for a trip on Van der Westhuizen at the start of the second half as the Bulls came back into the game with tries to prop Sias Wagner and wing Frikkie Welsh, reducing the lead to 32-27.
Wing Bruce Reihana responded with the Chiefs fifth try, but a penalty from Wessels and a second try for Welsh left the Chiefs hanging on to their lead before Jackson took charge.
- REUTERS
2001 Super 12 schedule/results
New Zealand's Super 12 squads
