They not only needed to win, but do so commandingly to move away from any spot that would've seen them be in contact with Leinster in the quarterfinals.
Connacht had the most to worry about, but they've got the last round-robin game against the Glasgow Warriors away to seal their quarter-final date. Yes, they brought a weakened side after having done the hard yards, but the Bulls haven't lost to European opposition at home and they weren't about to be as kind as the Lions.
They kickstarted their day's work through a Johan Goosen seventh-minute penalty, but got the try-scoring party going through lock Ruan Nortje in the 14th minute after inside centre Harold Vorster created a line-break that finally broke the visitors' defensive resolve. Hooker Grobbelaar then muscled his way over on the stroke of half-time as the Bulls not only got their bonus point, but were firmly on the front foot.
Three minutes later, Stedman Gans got into the try-scoring act when he finished off a flowing Bulls backline move.