Pretoria – It has been a touch over a decade to the day since Gary Botha led an unfancied Blue Bulls team to a pulsating 28-all draw against the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup final.
An unlikely captain at the time and a hooker never given his dues, Botha knows all about going to Bloemfontein as underdogs, but believes this Bulls team have it in them to pull off a major coup against the favourites and undefeated Cheetahs side on Saturday.
Now the scrum doctor at Loftus, Botha laughs off the underdog tag that the men from the capital have been labelled with, and in the spirit of the Bulls teams of 2002 and 2006 - who beat the Golden Lions and drew with the Cheetahs respectively - believes this weekend's clash will come down to the team who grabs their opportunities on the day.
“It will be typical finals rugby and it boils down to the team that can execute their plan to the best of their abilities. Obviously finals are there for something special so comes the opportunity then hopefully the players can take that opportunity,” Botha said.
“They’ve been prepped well, finals rugby you can’t do anything specific, you have to go out there and play. It is all about the team that takes the opportunities in implementing the game plan in that game.”
And though the Bulls are faced with what seems like an insurmountable mountain to climb, Botha says the experience that Nollis Marais' men gained from their failed semi-final last year, and also winning last week’s semi-final against Western Province, has helped in the evolution of the team as well as their belief that they can beat the Cheetahs.
“I don’t really worry about underdogs, heroes and those type of cliche tags people give teams. I do believe that these young guys have been exposed to situations where they pick up the necessary experience,” he said.
“As the team grows, time progresses and so do teams and players progress and develop and that is the biggest thing we are trying to get into place here.
“You will get tested in certain games and this team have grown together and hopefully picking up together the experience as a team.”
The current crop of Bulls players are fortunate to have Botha in their midst. They can also draw plenty of experience from another former Bulls captain in forwards coach Anton Leonard, who won three and led the men in blue to two Currie Cup titles, including the 2002 triumph against the odds at Ellis Park.
But Botha insists that there is only so much that management can do and all of what unravels on the field will rest on the shoulders of the players.
Botha wants the players to enjoy the moment of being in a final, but they must not lose sight of why they are there.
It seems as if everything will be against them at Free State Stadium, where the Pretoria outfit were convincingly beaten 43-20 by the Cheetahs in August.
“I don’t think it is a specific thing about Anton and I trying to guide them. I think the energy in the group is good and the guys have been exposed to semi-finals for two years in a row now,” he said.
“The thing we’ll just preach and what coach Nollis Marais has been preaching is to take the opportunities, enjoy it and just play. That’s the outlook we have for the final.
“I don’t think there is anything specific that one can say to the youngster players about a final. We are not on the pitch, they’ll be on the pitch and that is the decision-making they have to take.”
Cape Times