The Stormers beat a weakened Bulls team 38-10 to clinch a home semi-final in Super 14 rugby on Saturday, forcing the NSW Waratahs to travel to South Africa.

The Cape Town outfit outscored the defending champions by four tries to one for the bonus point victory, allowing them to climb over the Waratahs into second in the final standings, behind the Bulls who had already secured their home semi.

The result sorted out who faces who next Saturday: The Bulls face the Canterbury Crusaders in Soweto, then the Stormers will play the Waratahs in Cape Town.

"We are very happy with the win tonight and to get the semifinal position," said Stormers coach Allister Coetzee. "It was quite difficult to get the focus up. The players felt they would have preferred to play the full strength Bulls side.

"This is great practice for us."

Stormers winger Bryan Habana scored the first of two tries against his former team after just four minutes to settle Stormers nerves. Lock Andries Bekker and centre Jacque Fourie also crossed and man of the match Peter Grant kicked 18 points.

Replacement Ruan Snyman scored on his Super 14 debut for the Bulls, who made the controversial move to rest 14 first-choice players for a game that had no influence on their position at the top.

Even though they still put out a side with more than 550 caps combined, the Bulls were no match for the highly motivated Stormers, who earned their first semifinal in six years.

"It was pretty difficult to prepare for, actually. We didn't know what to expect but we got through it all right and we are pretty pleased," Stormers captain Schalk Burger said.

"Hopefully more of the same next week."

Grant agreed: "It's great to be back at Newlands. It's proved to be good to us this season. It's going to be a tough one, no doubt, but we have got the mental edge on them (New South Wales) after beating them earlier in the season so its going to be a good challenge."

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke continued to defend his wholesale changes.

"The main thing is fresh bodies and fresh minds," Ludeke said. "Guys have played a lot of rugby and they pulled their weight in the season so its a well-deserved break.

"At this stage, to just have a mental break, we will definitely fly next week," he said ahead of the first major rugby match in the famous Johannesburg township, a move forced by preparations for soccer's World Cup.

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