Their position on the Super Rugby log may be far from desperate but Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has called for more of the same intensity and results that saw his team win their last two matches in emphatic style before their bye last week.
On Thursday, Ludeke called his team desperate even though they occupy a credible seventh place on the log and are one win away from returning back into the coveted top six places that will ultimately hand them a play-off spot.
But the Bulls will face a much more desperate outfit in the form of the Western Force who have only won one of their five matches thus far this season. Ludeke, though, remained convinced on Thursday that his side still needed to build on their victories against the Sharks and Cheetahs in order to be a formidable outfit that can challenge for the title.
Such is Ludeke’s so called desperation to maintain his team’s winning run that he has done little to change the make up of his team to face the Force at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday with only minor changes to the starting line-up that sees veteran lock Victor Matfield and Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane drop to the bench.
The towering figure of Grant Hattingh has replaced Matfield in the second row while another Springbok prop Marcel van der Merwe replaces Nyakane and Dean Greyling comes in place of Morne Mellett at loosehead prop.
The Bulls have also brought back Springbok loose forward Arno Botha back into their team after Botha suffered a pectoral muscle injury in the opening game of the season against the Stormers.
Botha will start from the bench and will be called upon in the second half to give the Bulls impetus especially in the breakdowns and with ball in hand.
While Ludeke would have had to take into consideration the gentlemen’s agreement between the franchises and the South African Rugby union to rest Springbok players after five weeks, the retention of Matfield and Nyakane in the match day team proves the level of desperation that Ludeke stated.
Ludeke is wary of the danger the Force will pose to his side regardless of their 12th place on the log and is of the view that his team will once again need to produce similar, if not better, performances than they did in their last two outings.
“They are the team that keeps the ball the best out of all the sides in the competition. They can retain the ball well, have a lot of patience and accuracy at the breakdown so in a defensive way that is our challenge and we will need to squeeze them into turnovers. I thought we got a lot of that rhythm back in the last two games by focussing on ourselves and what makes us a good side in both our attacking and defensive game. These things must work for us over the weekend. We are also in a desperate situation and we need to continue winning. They will want to get back onto the winning track,” said Ludeke.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies did not speak of desperation but his voice gave an indication of how wary the Bulls are about how the Force can upset them at home.
“You respect the team you play against because it is a tough competition. It is important that we know our opponent but it is also important that we focus on what we want to achieve. It is going to be a tough battle and we must make sure that we pitch on Saturday and make it count,” Spies said.
Meanwhile the Blue Bulls Company confirmed the contract extensions of Springbok prop Dean Greyling, flyhalf Tian Schoeman and Junior Springbok prop Dayan van der Westhuizen.
All three have signed contracts that will keep them at Loftus until 2017. - The Star