PRETORIA - The time for excuses is over and the Bulls will need to resuscitate their Super Rugby campaign with a win against the Sunwolves at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
For the Loftus and Bulls faithful it has been a painful start to the season as they have helplessly watched their beloved team in blue being strangled, dominated and outplayed by the Stormers and Cheetahs.
It was in those two losses in Cape Town and Bloemfontein that the Bulls’ vulnerabilities were laid bare and cruelly exposed by the opposition and has raised the question whether the Bulls have it in them to be serious title contenders this year.
It might still be too early to answer that question but the Bulls have already lost some valuable ground to other teams that harbour the same title aspirations as them and there will be no better time to start making up on that lost ground than on Friday night.
However, victory is not guaranteed for the Bulls after the Sunwolves' good showings in recent weeks, including a valiant effort in their narrow loss against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend.
The Sunwolves will take a lot of heart from that performance in The City of Roses and, against popular belief, will fancy their chances against a Bulls team that will be feeling the pressure more than usual in their first home game of the season.
And maybe it is that pressure that will spark the best out of the Bulls, starting from their ailing set-piece to a few of their Springbok stars that are yet to show their worth.
Much of the Bulls problems have nothing to do with a failed structure or plan but more to do with individuals failing the team, especially at the start of their games.
We know all about the woes of the Bulls frontrow and the shortcomings of their line-out and so too their sterile performance at the breakdown. But the players are yet to shoulder the responsibility of their failings.
Friday will be that moment where the likes of captain Handre Pollard finally come good while Trevor Nyakane, Lood de Jager and Jan Serfontein will have to lead the initial charge before the replacements Adriaan Strauss, Lizo Gqoboka, RG Snyman, and Jesse Kriel show that their strength is not only on paper but on the field as well.
The Bulls have the players that can beat any side in the competition and they showed that they have a winning plan considering that they outscored the Stormers and Cheetahs in the second halves of their respective matches.
Now it is time for the team to step up, prove to themselves and their fans that they are better than the results of the past two matches might suggest.
But more importantly, the Bulls will need to win on Friday to finally get out of the blocks and ensure that they go to New Zealand and Tokyo looking like a team that not only talks about being champions but plays like it as well.
Bulls starting XV: Warrick Gelant, Travis Ismaiel, Jan Serfontein, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Handre Pollard (captain), Piet van Zyl, Hanro Liebenberg, Renaldo Bothma, Ruan Steenkamp, Lood de Jager, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Edgar Marutlulle, Pierre Schoeman; Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Lizo Gqoboka, Jacobie Adriaanse, RG Snyman, Jannes Kirsten, Ivan van Zyl, Tian Schoeman, Jesse Kriel.
Sunwolves starting XV: Shota Emi, Takaaki Nakazuru, Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, Timothy Lafaele, Kenki Fukuoka, Hayden Cripps, Keisuke Uchida, Willie Britz, Shumei Matsuhashi, Ed Quirk (captain), Uwe Helu, Sam Wykes, Yasuo Yamaji, Yusuke Niwai, Koki Yamamoto; Replacements: Atsushi Sakate, Masataka Mikami, Heiichiro Ito, Liaki Moli, Yoshitaka Tokunaga, Kaito Shigeno, Jumpei Ogura, Ryohei Yamanaka.