Pretoria - The Blue Bulls will go into Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup semi-final clash against Western Province without fear and with the full knowledge that the only impediment in their route to the final is themselves.
That has probably been the only problem for the Bulls this season and that was fighting the demon of progress from within.
Blue Bulls journeyman flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter believes that the team exorcised that demon in their loss against Western Province at Loftus at the end of August and now possess the belief and the game plan to win against any team and anywhere.
While the defeat masked the real effort and commitment the Bulls had put on the field that day, their day of reckoning came a week later when they reversed their earlier defeat to the Golden Lions by beating their provincial neighbours 36-26 at Loftus.
Thereafter, the Bulls only lost one game out of their remaining four with their last three round robin games being resounding wins against the Cheetahs, Pumas and Griquas.
“I think it started with the Western Province game. We started believing in what we were doing and everyone backed the game plan. But I think the actual change in the season came when we beat the Lions here at Loftus, we had a good performance and played exactly the way we wanted,” said Potgieter on Tuesday.
The fact that the Bulls qualification for the play-offs seemed uncertain with them needing to win two away matches and the last one at home to secure the semi-final berth, it is exactly what Potgieter is counting on in negating the homeground advantage that Western Province will enjoy.
“I think we believe in the game we want to play. The game we are good at we can play anywhere. If it is raining, dry, a little bit windy, the type of game we want to play we can play it anywhere. That suits us as a team and if the heavens decide to open up and give us some rain that is also fine, we can still play the type of game we are focussing on. In training we have a type of game plan that we are following regardless of what the weather will bring. That’s a positive and brings a lot of energy to us,” Potgieter said.
There is no doubt that Potgieter will be instrumental in guiding the Bulls to victory but he says there is nothing much he can do without his pack of forwards, outside backs and the much-talked about Handré Pollard at inside centre.
“If the battle upfront falls in our favour, then we can have a good game. I think it will be a game of set-pieces and breakdown will be crucial.
“Luckily, I’ve played in a few semi-finals and finals over my career. The sort of stuff we are working on now really suits our team. It’s the outside guys that can make the inside job a little bit easier, with guys like Akona Ndungane, Bjorn Basson and Ulrich Beyers from the back communicating and giving me some options,” Potgieter added.
“I think we can make a good combination between the two of us. I think he (Pollard) has got a lot of good qualities, he’s a good ball carrier, a good passer of the ball, a good kicker and he can open a lot of options for us. If we want to play a kicking game, we have three capable kickers and if we want to play a running game we have a few guys who can run with the ball.”
Pretoria News