Simelane stars as composed Bulls tame 14-man Exeter and injured ref Raynal

Despite Jake White stating a few weeks back that the Bulls are prioritising winning the URC title this season over a productive run in Europe, they're definitely not showing it yet.

Spurred on by the very deep belief that they simply can't afford to slip up at Fortress Loftus regardless of the occasion, the men in blue took a major leap towards qualifying for the Champions Cup knockouts with a fine 39-28 victory over a 14-man Exeter on Saturday night.

This was an outing that vividly illustrated why the Bulls are potentially one of the more formidable sides in northern hemisphere club rugby when their game management and composure is in the zone.

In the early exchanges, there would have been reservations over the home side's ability to topple one of English rugby's heavyweights as Exeter dominated the opening 10 minutes, taking advantage of the Bulls' reluctance to kick possession and caging them in their own half.

However, the Bulls summoned some excellent defence, which notably saw what looked a certain try being snuffled out, laying the foundation for a momentum shift that had them taking overall control.

Elrigh Louw made their first real incursion count as he barged over from a 5m tap penalty, only for Exeter to hit back on a break where a superb pass into space led to young fullback Josh Hodge scything through a gap.

Yet the Bulls didn't let that score against the run of play become a mental handicap.

Instead, they knuckled down and launched a brilliant reply when Bismarck du Plessis - on as a temporary replacement for Johan Grobbelaar - made a superb steal in midfield and combined with Zak Burger to launch a swift counter that featured a lightning run from the prone Kurt-Lee Arendse and an incisive inside pass from