The Bulls survived a scare as they began the defence of their Super 14 title with a hard-fought 51-34 bonus-point victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
The home side crossed the line three times through Lionel Mapoe, Juan Smith and Jongi Nokwe, but could not match its visitors, who outscored them by six tries to three - thanks to Jaco Pretorius, Morne Steyn, Gerhard van den Heever, Zane Kirchner, Wynand Olivier and a late penalty try.
Playing without Bryan Habana, who left during the off season, the defending champions showed little sign of missing one of the best wingers in world rugby as they began the 2010 campaign with a bonus-point win.
The lead changed hands several times in the first half after the match started sensationally with the hosts scoring the first five-pointer after just 21 seconds.
Nokwe chased down the kick-off and effectively stole the ball away from Fourie du Preez, before the ball was spread left through Meyer Bosman, Naas Olivier and then Mapoe to dot down.
After the conversion was missed, Steyn responded with a penalty for the visitors following an error by Adriaan Strauss.
Naas Olivier made amends with a penalty of his own just on the 10-minute mark as the game began to settle down.
Frans Ludeke's side drew level through a Pretorius try under the post after 15 minutes, but the Cheetahs re-took the lead with another penalty, before Steyn put his side back in front with another three pointer.
A crucial moment in the game came in the 20th minute when Deon Stegmann somehow managed to save Nokwe from scoring a try when the Springbok winger looked certain to score.
But the home side did not seem to be affected as Naas Olivier sent over another penalty, this time after Pedrie Wannenburg dived into the scrum illegally.
Five minutes before the break, the Bulls were back in front and stayed there permanently - Steyn the try-scorer with a low and angled run to score under the post.
He then added the extras along with another penalty to hand his side a 23-14 half-time lead.
Naka Drotske's side struck first from the restart with Naas Olivier curling over a fine penalty from the right-hand touchline.
But the joy was short lived as quick tries from Van den Heever and then Kirchner stretched the lead to a massive 20 points after 48 minutes thanks to the additional points added by Steyn.
The Cheetahs' attempts to try and stay in touch were kept alive by captain Smith, who capitalised on quick thinking from Tewis de Bruyn to touch down, and the home crowd were given more cause to believe when Nokwe finished a flowing move by racing down the right touchline to score.
Both were converted by Naas Olivier, but just as the hosts seemed to have gathered some momentum, there was a floodlight failure on the 55-minute mark with just six points in it.
After play was halted for a brief period, Wynand Olivier then broke through for his side's fifth try and despite the best efforts of the hosts, they could only manage one final penalty from Naas Olivier.
To compound matters, referee Jonathan Kaplan awarded a late penalty try against the Cheetahs scrum as the Bulls sealed victory.