The Bulls will go into their four-match tour abroad truly believing they are Super Rugby title contenders after their 35-33 win over the Lions catapulted them to the top of the South African conference.
As much as there had been plenty of doubt about the Bulls’ ability to lead the South African charge in the competition, especially after their defeat at the hands of the Stormers a week earlier, it was their response to their detractors and mainly to themselves that will stand them in good stead in New Zealand and Australia.
Facing the Lions was always going to be a challenge but it was their resilience, ability to absorb unrelenting pressure and ultimately the calmness to close out the game that will have the Bulls believing that glory is within their grasp.
Victor Matfield was guarded in saying that the win is the turning point of their season, but commended the character and fight his team showed especially in the dying moments when the Lions looked certain to burgle another win.
“I won’t say it is a turning point but we have one or two games where we lost in the last minute,” Matfield said. “We started the game the way we wanted to play with a lot of width and guys running really hard. Just after half-time we made a few mistakes and we were really under pressure and the guys showed some great character. The guys stuck to their guns and even the guys that came off the bench made a big difference. It is great for us as a team to go out there under pressure, fighting back and getting the momentum back after it seemed as if they were going to win it at the end.”
It is that character that Matfield hopes the Bulls will take on tour after their week’s rest with their bye and as leader of the pack when the Bulls won their three Super Rugby titles, he believes this current crop of players are showing the hunger and desire to go all the way in the competition.
“When we lost we talked and said this is about who wants it the most. We still have dreams to go all the way in this competition and the guys stood up, came back and played with a lot of heart. So we showed that we have the character and the will to win and that is fantastic,” Matfield added.
Coach Frans Ludeke was pleased with his team’s overall performance and even more satisfying is that they regained the top spot in the local conference after relinquishing it to the Stormers a week earlier.
Ludeke, though, has emphasised the difficulties that lie ahead for his team on their tour but said they were positive about what they could still achieve, especially with the brand of rugby they are playing at the moment.
“This is where we want to be but we also know that there is still a lot of work to be done on our tour and we are remaining positive,” Ludeke said.
While the bye weekend will come as a timely relief for the Bulls ahead of taking the long journey to New Zealand next week, there will be some concern over the injuries to Jan Serfontein, Piet van Zyl and Burger Odendaal.
At first glance their injuries did not seem too serious but Serfontein will be a major worry for the Bulls as he seems to have aggravated his troublesome hip flexor injury which has kept him out of action for the past four weeks. - The Star