The uncertain and often brutal nature of South African derbies has left little uncovered in terms of preparation for the Bulls ahead of their clash against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth tomorrow.
This was meant to be a fixture of no consideration for the Bulls regarding the outcome but after last weekend’s indifferent performance in their win against the Cheetahs and the Kings' win against the Sunwolves, the Bulls find themselves in yet another test of their character and title credentials.
With little under two weeks before embarking on what will be a make-or-break tour to Australia, the men from the capital need to muster the mental fortitude to be able to engineer wins away from home while also upping the ante when it comes to their match day performance.
After three years of failing to win overseas, Nollis Marais’ charges managed to break the hoodoo earlier this season when they beat the Sunwolves in Singapore but even that victory was hollow after almost letting it slip towards the end of the game.
Their trip to Cape Town at the beginning of the season exposed some naivety in their new approach of running rugby as they left the back door open and for the Stormers to ransack them at set-piece play.
It is that set-piece play that will once again come under the microscope in Port Elizabeth tomorrow against a Kings team that showed growth and maturity in the scrums and breakdown against the Sunwolves.
The Bulls, on the other hand, failed dismally at scrum-time against the Cheetahs and lacked the necessary grunt upfront to dominate the breakdown and get any meaningful possession to their backs.
If indeed the Bulls have made any meaningful gains in their lukewarm performances against the Melbourne Rebels, Sharks, Sunwolves and Cheetahs then it will be laid bare against the Kings and that will come with them applying themselves fully until the final whistle.
“It is very important that we win before we go on tour. It is important that we approach every match with the aim of winning. We are preparing for the different conditions that we will face in Australia and more specifically away from home in Port Elizabeth,” said Marais.
“We have a lot of guys that haven’t played in certain conditions, they are youngsters and sometimes put themselves under pressure and we will need to focus on that. It might not be the 80 minute performance that we are looking for yet but we mustn’t move away from the way we want to play in the next couple of years. It might not be lekker every time but we have to stick to it.”
Sticking to that winning blueprint for the Bulls will be to ensure that their scrums are again working at their optimal level with their all-Springbok frontrow dictating terms against the Kings while the presence of Lappies Labuschagne will bring about some direction and discipline at the breakdown.
It would be immature of the Bulls to believe that the Kings will give them the freedom of Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium but they have proven in the pockets of brilliance they have been able to produce this season, that their game plan is effective and attractive if implemented correctly.
“We mustn’t see anything else besides where we want to be and taking steps to get there. We have to change the way we think about things and how we want to approach things. Because the players haven’t played that way for many years, it is a different mindset for them. The only way they can play is by trial and error and hammering the small things. There are certain things we need to control like set-pieces and game management and that will only get better with time,” Marais said.
Meanwhile the Kings have made a number of changes to their team with John Hall being handed a Super Rugby debut while influential flank CJ Vellerman has been demoted to the bench for Chris Cloete.
There has also been a positional switch in the midfield with Stefan Watermeyer moving to inside centre for the injured Shane Gates and Lukhanyo Am coming in at outside centre. Another injury enforced change sees Luzuko Vulindlu return to the starting team in place of Siyanda Grey.
Kings starting xv: Jurgen Visser, Luzuko Vulindlu, Lukhanyo Am, Stefan Watermeyer, Malcolm Jaer, Louis Fouche, James Hall, Aidon Davis, Stefan Willemse, Chris Cloete, JC Astle, Steven Sykes (c), Tom Botha, Edgar Marutlulle, Sti Sithole. Replacements: Martin Ferreira, Schalk Ferreira, Justin Ackerman, Schalk Oelofse, CJ Velleman, Ntando Kebe, Leigthon Eksteen/JP du Plessis, Jaco van Tonder.
Bulls starting XV: SP Marais, Travis Ismaiel, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman, Piet van Zyl, Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Lappies Labuschagne, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss (c), Trevor Nyakane; Replacements: Bandise Maku, Pierre Schoeman, Werner Kruger, Marvin Orie, Roelof Smit, Ivan van Zyl, Francois Brummer, Dan Kriel - The Star