The Blue Bulls got their Currie Cup campaign back on track with a hard-earned 33-30 win over the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Coming back from trailing 3-17 late in the first half, the Bulls score three scintillating second-half tries to edge ahead with just 10 minutes remaining on the clock.

However, the Cheetahs will look back on what could have been - after tries by Hennie Daniller (in the 11th minute) and Marcel van der Merwe (30th minute) saw them take a commanding lead.

But the Bulls showed that, despite missing a host of their Springboks, they are still a force and will be hard to crack at Loftus.

The Cheetahs' consolation is a losing bonus point.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Van den Heever , Kuün, Ndungane
Cons: Brummer 3
Pens: Brummer 4

For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Daniller, Van der Merwe, Uys
Cons: Ebersohn 3
Pens: Ebersohn 3

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Akona Ndungane, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Dustin Jinka, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Derick Kuün, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Fudge Mabeta, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Okkie Kruger, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Francois Venter.

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Andries Strauss (captain), 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Pieter Labuschagné, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 PW van Vuuren, 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Pieter Myburgh, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Philip Snyman, 22 Philip Burger.

Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry, Christie du Preez
TMO: JC Fortuin