Bulls 26
Hurricanes 14
Last week was said to be one of the hardest in recent times for the Hurricanes after their embarrassing and meek loss to the Rebels. This week might be even more painful as Mark Hammett's side come to the realisation their season is effectively over.
They weren't lacking in effort
against the Bulls last night, and they brought some much-needed aggression to the breakdown, but they were squeezed by an experienced side who preyed on the Hurricanes' deficiencies. This Bulls side might be showing signs of decline, but they still know how to win rugby games.
They were ruthless in the first 30 minutes and opened out a 15-0 lead and, although the Hurricanes threatened to snatch the game when they reduced the gap to four with 10 minutes remaining. The Bulls held their nerve to secure their fourth win of the season.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes were made to pay for the opening half hour and errant Daniel Kirkpatrick goal kicking - he landed just two of five attempts in his 63 minutes on the park.
In contrast, the Bulls had Morne Steyn. He realises the game is won by the team who score the most points and, as much as home fans questioned the validity of them, dropped goals count as points.
There's nothing awarded for artistic impression and he collected 21 of the visitors' 26 points. In the opening exchanges he controlled the match beautifully.
He kicked high, kicked for the corners and kicked long and when the Bulls used the ball they found joy with the inside ball or the double runner (one man driving the ball-carrier into contact). They also have some of the world's best set-piece practitioners, so know possession will come their way.
There was never any danger either of these two sides would pick up a bonus point for four tries, but it didn't mean there wasn't attacking endeavour.
The Hurricanes were forced to chase the game after 30 minutes and they looked better spinning the ball wide to the likes of Hosea Gear and Cory Jane. They were more threatening playing the game at tempo but struggled to find many holes in a solid Bulls defence.
Serge Lilo found one in the 45th minute, when he powered over from close range, and Victor Vito came close with 12 minutes left when he took a quick penalty tap, but they were otherwise nullified.
The Bulls grabbed their own five-pointer when converted wing Francois Hougaard stepped inside a covering Hurricanes defence to touch down with eight minutes remaining.
Vito continued his impressive form of the season and Gear made a welcome return but errors and penalties let the Hurricanes down - common refrains so far in 2011.
There is still considerable time for the Hurricanes to recover but they don't look capable of it.
The stark reality is they have won only once this season - the narrow home win over the Chiefs - and their points tally was inflated by their draw with the Crusaders when the match was called off because of the Christchurch earthquake.
They now embark on a tricky trip to the Brumbies, before heading to the Republic to face the Cheetahs and Sharks.
After a week of talk, there's not much more soul searching the Hurricanes can do. They're just searching for another win.
Hurricanes 14 (S. Lilo try; D. Kirkpatrick 2 pens, D. Cruden pen) Bulls 26 (F. Hougaard try; M. Steyn 5 pens, 2 dgs). HT: 3-15.
