Pretoria - In the three weeks the Blue Bulls have been out of action in the Currie Cup competition, their coach Nollis Marais, has managed to shed a lot of weight ... 15kg to be exact.
The logical conclusion to Marais’ sudden weight-loss is that it is stress-related as he and his team have been waiting in anticipation for their semi-final encounter against Western Province at Loftus Versfeld tomorrow.
There is plenty of pressure, which Marais has endured since ascending to the position of head coach last year but he assured the media gathered on Thursday, that it was the cutting out of carbohydrates and sugar that has seen him cut a slim but still fearsome figure.
That moment of banter quickly became serious as Marais said his team will also need to eradicate two things if they are to emerge victorious this time around.
Firstly, they must limit mistakes and secondly, ward against repeating an inability to cope with the few moments of brilliance WP had in last year’s semi-final.
“The confidence was not there (last year), the pressure was too much for the guys and we made mistakes. If you look at the semi-final, we made two mistakes and they scored from those two mistakes.
“We were in control of that game and we gave them two tries. Most of the guys have now played in the Currie Cup semi-finals and Super Rugby, so they’ve been through it and must be better prepared,” said Marais on Thursday.
The Bulls have shown in the build-up to the semi-finals that they are a team that has learnt from their shortcomings. That not only speaks to the maturity within the young group but also the strides they have made in not wanting to relive the pain of losing last year’s semi-final in front of the Loftus faithful.
Defence is another area of the Bulls game that has improved significantly this season and Marais wants his players to be up to it at all times and cited the late fight back by WP in their 45-26 defeat at the hands of the Bulls earlier in the season.
“You can ask the players I was not happy after that game. We did score 45 points but I was disappointed in the way we let them score three easy tries at the end of the game. That shows you how dangerous a side they can be and we mustn’t find ourselves in that position again.
“They will be a much improved side from the one we faced in the first round and with some of their Springboks back, it won’t be an easy game.”
The Bulls have been boosted by the fitness of Springbok scrumhalf Rudy Paige, pictured, who will start at No 9 and captain Arno Botha makes a return to the starting line-up at eighthman in place of Hanro Liebenberg, who drops to the bench.
Lizo Gqoboka will start at loosehead prop and will be backed up by another in-form prop in Pierre Schoeman.
“Lizo and Pierre did well in the rotation policy and every time they played they both got Man of the Match. I think Lizo played very well against Boland and Pierre will make a huge difference when he comes off the bench like he did in Super Rugby for us.”
Marais remains uncertain about the split on his bench for tomorrow’s clash with wing Bjorn Basson and flank Nic de Jager being bracketed together.
“I’m still deciding if I’m going to go with a six-two or a five-three bench but after captain’s run (today), we’ll decide. It is more of a tactical thing and we’ll have to see how it plays out,” said Marais.
As important as it will be for the Bulls not to repeat the mistakes of last year, they will need to play with the same intent, ruthlessness and accuracy in execution that saw them blow away the old foe earlier in the competition if there is to be any truth to Marais’ weight loss.
TEAM
BLUE BULLS STARTING XV: Ulrich Beyers, Travis Ismaiel, Dries Swanepoel, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman, Rudy Paige, Arno Botha (captain), Jannes Kirsten, Roelof Smit, RG Snyman, Marvin Orie, Jacobie Adriaanse, Jaco Visagie, Lizo Gqoboka; REPLACEMENTS: Bandise Maku, Martin Dreyer, Pierre Schoeman, Jason Jenkins, Hanro Liebenberg, Ivan van Zyl, Joshua Stander, Bjorn Basson/Nic de Jager
The Star