Relief would have certainly been the feeling permeating through the Bulls changeroom on Saturday evening after their 43-35 victory over the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in recording their first win of this year’s Super Rugby campaign.
But the over-riding feeling heading into this week would have been one of excitement as the pressure that has engulfed them was finally lifted and there is now great anticipation for the road that lies ahead.
The win elevated the Bulls from near bottom of the log to eighth position and just a mere three points behind the fifth placed Cheetahs who the Bulls face in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
This weekend saw a different Bulls team to that which had horribly capitulated in their two opening home games against the Stormers and Hurricanes and instead they put in a strong team performance befitting of the talk and talent within their team.
While the Bulls were saved from having their scrum tested by the surprisingly scarce number of scrums in the game, three to be exact, they did man up when presented with an opportunity to scrum down against a Sharks scrum that had annihilated a credible Lions scrum just a week before. But it was in the line-outs and breakdown where the Bulls swung the ball game in their favour even when faced with some stiff resistance from the Sharks.
The Bulls managed to boss the Sharks in the line-outs with veteran lock Victor Matfield putting in another vintage performance while their turn-around in being dominant at the rucks was nothing short of a miracle.
Coming into the game the Bulls had conceded the most possession than any other team in the competition followed by the Sharks but that did not stop them from committing just enough men when the situation required and made some timely interventions in stealing possession.
Key to the Bulls dominance at the rucks was Deon Stegmann and Lappies Labuschagne while captain Pierre Spies was a welcome surprise in turning over the ball.
Labuschagne has grown in leaps and bounds since making his debut for the Bulls in Super Rugby three weeks ago and can easily claim to be the catalyst in how the Bulls have managed to win the battle of the gain line while quietly rummaging through the rucks with diligence.
Another unfancied character who stole the show was nuggety scrumhalf Rudy Paige whose well-timed passes around the fringes of the rucks created space for Stegmann and Spies’ tries while his crisp and speedy service to the backs ensured that the Bulls backs had time and space with ball in hand.
The rest was left to flyhalf Handre Pollard to dictate play as he saw fit and the Springbok flyhalf gave a sterling performance worthy of arguably the best No10 in the land.
Not only did Pollard land all his kicks at goal but he seemed to make the right decisions on when to kick or run and it was his raking kicks for touch that kept the Sharks at bay and gained much valuable territory for the Bulls.
The Bulls backs showed some thought with every ball they ran down the line and were it not for some resolute Sharks defence they should have been rewarded with more tries.
While the Bulls may have passed their first test of resilience in digging themselves out of the rut they had been in for two weeks running, the challenge for the three time champions will now be for them to continue with such displays of authority and winning.
Spies believes that they have it in them to even become a better side but it will be important for them not to get carried away with what happened at Loftus on Saturday ahead of their trip to Bloemfontein this week.
“We’ve got to enjoy the win over the Sharks especially after the tough two weeks we’ve endured,” said Spies.
“From today it will be a new week and a new challenge for us as we face a confident Cheetahs team in Bloemfontein. It would be very silly of us to be over confident because we haven’t won anything yet.
“We live week by week and we will take as much as we can from the win and go back to square one as we prepare for the Cheetahs.” - The Star