Comment by Ashfak Mohamed
Cape Town - When I asked Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee – after the epic win over Leinster – whether he would prefer to face the Stormers or Ulster in the United Rugby Championship final, there was an immediate smile on his face.
But before he could even answer, coach Jake White laughed and chimed in: “He’s got a house in Ulster!”
Of course, Coetzee is an old Ulsterman, having spent five years in Belfast before moving to Pretoria last year.
The openside flank was typically diplomatic in his answer, although he had a good giggle after White’s comment: “It (Belfast) is a bit closer, towards Dublin! But at the end of the day, you have to adapt to what you get. Both are quality sides, and we will be watching them with enthusiasm. But may the best team win.”
But privately, both Coetzee and White would’ve hoped for an Ulster win over the Stormers, as it would’ve meant that they didn’t have to travel back to South Africa for Saturday’s final at Cape Town Stadium.
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It is also summer up north, so it is likely to be warmer and drier in Belfast (whatever warm means in that city!) than it is set to be in Cape Town in the middle of winter – and there is already a 70 percent chance of rain predicted for Saturday in the Mother City.
It nearly happened, with Ulster leading 15-10 well into injury time before Warrick Gelant scored a try and Manie Libbok slotted the winning conversion for the Stormers to send Cape Town into party mode.
But what many wouldn’t have known was the challenges that the Bulls had to endure in getting to Dublin.
“It was a very different week, because it was very short. We played (in the quarter-final against the Sharks in Pretoria) and had to fly. It was a little bit of a disjointed weekend because we had to fly with four airlines, because we couldn’t get enough seats on one airline,” White said at the post-match press conference.
ALSO READ: Fantastic to reach URC final, but more to come - Bulls coach Jake White
“A couple of guys had to fly via Amsterdam, some via Frankfurt, some via Dubai… So, it’s not the ideal situation, but in saying that, I got the feeling that all our work we had done in the last couple of weeks was going to (give us) enough confidence for this week. It wasn’t like we felt we were losing out on any preparation.”
Independent Media understands that the Bulls were still trying to sort out flights back to South Africa on Saturday night, after the Stormers beat Ulster. They were hoping to leave Dublin last night, so that they could land in Johannesburg sometime today.
They would’ve likely had to use many different flights, so it means that they will only start their preparation for the final on Tuesday at Loftus Versfeld, before flying to Cape Town on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.
But we saw how the Bulls produced their finest performance of the season at the RDS Arena in Dublin against the four-time defending champions, so they have proved that any travel nightmares won’t deter them in their quest to become URC winners.
They were dealt a 31-3 drubbing by Leinster in their first match of the season, and turned that around with a 27-26 triumph last Friday.
And they will have revenge on their minds against the Stormers too, having lost 30-26 at Loftus Versfeld in January and 19-17 in Cape Town in April…
@AshfakMohamed