Even in his most ambitious moments, Colin Cooper never dreamed of securing the first leg of the Hurricanes' crucial South African treble like this.

Their 50-22 demolition of the Bulls, the defending Super 14 champions, was notable for so many reasons.

It was the first time since 1997 the Hurricanes have scored 50 points and only the second time this year they have collected a bonus point for scoring four tries.

It was the first time they had scored seven tries since 2005 and was a performance that not only lifted the Hurricanes to third, but will have given them the confidence to kick on.

But, more than anything, it was a performance that suggests a clean sweep in South Africa is not a silly notion to contemplate.

Coming after the dreary 13-13 draw with the Sharks and the loss to the Crusaders, this win was a tonic, as well as something of a statement.

"We're pretty happy," coach Colin Cooper said in what might already be the understatement of the year.

He admitted the Hurricanes had played within themselves against the Sharks and Crusaders, and was thankful they had broken the shackles in conditions ideal for attacking, running rugby at Loftus Versfeld.

"We'd played like we didn't want to do anything wrong against the Crusaders and the Sharks, but once we got the first three tries [against the Bulls] we opened up and started to enjoy ourselves. We didn't play in fear of losing."

The Hurricanes had their fourth try before halftime yesterday, with Ma'a Nonu doing the honours in the 21st minute.

He was devastating at second five-eighth, wreaking havoc with the ball but also providing some deft touches as he created space for others. He was also disciplined  which couldn't be said for some of his teammates.

The Hurricanes were forced to survive for four minutes with 13 men after centre Conrad Smith, who had an otherwise encouragingly physical game, was binned in the 23rd minute for a cynical foul and flanker Jerry Collins in the 29th.

Collins was caught offside and went to the bin because Australian referee James Leckie was fed up with the team's infringing.

The Hurricanes took it in their stride, restricting the Bulls to just one try  to No8 Pierre Spies  while they were men down.

When they play like they did yesterday there is a lot to like about the Hurricanes and it becomes easy to see them completing a clean sweep on their three-match South African safari and being a threat in the playoffs.

They have moved to third on the table with the Stormers and Cheetahs to come, before they

return to Wellington for a date with the increasingly hapless Lions.

But this is the Hurricanes. While they can produce the sweetest, most pleasurable rugby to watch, they can also infest the soul with the sort of mindless rugby the Blues are producing.

Cooper admitted inconsistency haunts his side and warned Sunday's match against the Stormers, at what is already tipped to be a sold-out Newlands, will be "massive".

But he was delighted yesterday with how the attack has at last complemented the defence.

It needs to be noted the Bulls are a feeble shadow of last year's team, but Pretoria is still a hard place to win rugby games and the Hurricanes did so in style.

They scored from set phase  with a try to replacement hooker Hikawera Elliot from a lineout drive and one to fullback Cory Jane off a set scrum move.

They also attacked well from broken play, created space for others and defended superbly as they kept the Bulls scoreless for 36 minutes in the second half, allowing two late tries only when the match was over as a contest.