The Waratahs rediscovered their attacking mojo and left a proud coach extracting plenty of positives from an honourable 48-38 loss to the Super 14 champion Bulls in Pretoria.

Rarely can a team draw much solace from conceding six tries and so many points, but NSW coach Chris Hickey was justifiably encouraged by his team's gallant effort, despite going winless in their two matches in South Africa.

They led 17-0 and 26-10 in the first half before being reined in and overhauled by an outstanding Bulls team at their Loftus Versfeld fortress.

The Bulls scored six tries to four in one of the most scintillating Super spectacles of the last five years.

Northern Hemisphere sceptics would probably scoff at the high scoreline, but this was no glorified game of touch football.

There were still plenty of red blooded forward clashes and stirring defence while the breakdown was ferociously contested.

Even when the Bulls threatened to stampede over them in the second half, the Waratahs displayed plenty of resolve.

Up 26-17 at the break, NSW was behind after the hosts scored the first 11 points of the second half.

The Waratahs hit back immediately to lead 27-26 through a well executed try to winger Lachie Turner when the Bulls launched another surge to lead 41-31.

NSW responded again with a dazzling converted try to winger Drew Mitchell, created by substitute Rob Horne, to get within three points with nine minutes remaining.

The relentless Bulls, who lead the ladder after piling 149 points and three bonus point victories from as many games, denied the visitors a deserved second bonus point with a late try to replacement Jacques-Louis Potgieter.

Hickey said the Waratahs need to execute a little bit better to win games against the better teams, but was really happy with their attitude and effort against the Bulls.

"I couldn't fault them in that regard and I'm quite proud of the way they aimed up," Hickey told AAP.

"I thought even in that last five minutes we were still a chance to win.

"We've been working to develop our attacking game and we thought that tonight it started to come together."

Sparked by some enterprising forward play and a series of incisive runs from halfback and man-of-the-match Luke Burgess, NSW stunned the crowd with some superb multi-phase rugby.

"I think Luke (Burgess) has been improving every week and heading back to the form that he had before and I know he's enjoying his footy," Hickey said.

The Waratahs jumped to a 17-0 lead inside 10 minutes through tries to hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and flanker Ben Mowen, both converted by inside centre Berrick Barnes, who also added a penalty.

Barnes kicked two more penalties and a 41 metre field goal, but the Bulls hit back with tries to centre Stephan Dippenaar and winger Francois Hougaard, both converted by Bulls five-eighth Morne Steyn.

The pivotal part of the game probably came just before halftime when the Bulls heroically defended 12 phases of Waratah pressure, as the visitors failed to build on a promising 26-17 advantage.

Burgess apart, Hickey reserved special praise for centre Tom Carter, who is likely to come under pressure from Horne, who made a promising season debut in his cameo off the bench after returning from a hamstring problem.

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