Cape Town - Can the Bulls dare to dream?
Having lost to Leinster and Connacht on their maiden United Rugby Championship (URC) tour last year, thoughts of winning the competition would’ve been furthest from coach Jake White’s mind.
But following Saturday’s 34-16 bonus-point triumph over the second-placed Ulster at Loftus Versfeld, that’s not such a far-fetched idea for the Pretoria side.
In fact, five wins in a row will bring real confidence to White’s team, especially after they had to fight back from 9-3 down against Ulster to score four tries in the second half in front of over 19 000 excited spectators.
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Captain Marcell Coetzee made the initial breakthrough after halftime, and was followed by Madosh Tambwe, Johan Grobbelaar and KurtLee Arendse.
Producing 50-pointers against the Scarlets and Dragons was impressive, but getting past such a strong Ulster line-up is the most significant moment of the Bulls’ season up to now.
The Belfast side had internationals such as Mike Lowry, James Hume, Ian Madigan, Jordi Murphy, Iain Henderson, Kieran Treadwell and hooker Brad Roberts in their starting XV, not to mention Springbok stalwart Duane Vermeulen.
In comparison, Cornal Hendricks and Marcell Coetzee were the only Boks in the Bulls run-on side, and neither of them are in the current South African squad.
So, for them to have regained their rhythm in the second half against such quality opposition speaks volumes of their growth as a team.
“This Ulster team is well coached, well drilled. They don’t give you anything, they strangle,” White said.
“If you go into the change room at 9-3 down, and you’ve got to as a coach find positives for the players to believe … It’s a turning point in that I think the players have got belief now that it’s 80 minutes of rugby. It’s (about) understanding what you can do as a team.
“And you’re not always going to get it right in the beginning – you have to sometimes work and believe in the way you want to play. That’s what I was happy about.”
But the former Bok coach is not getting carried away, as the Bulls will now travel to Cape Town to face the in-form Stormers on Saturday (kick-off 2pm).
Just a single log point separates the sixth-placed Capetonians (43) and the Bulls (42), and John Dobson’s team secured another bonus-point win with a 29-13 victory over the Ospreys at the weekend.
They will feel that they have the measure of the Bulls following their 30-26 triumph at Loftus in January.
“You want the players to feel a sense of achievement, as that was a tough game (against Ulster) and a tough team,” White said.
“But I’ve got to stress: we’re far from where we need to be. To win this competition is tough. Leinster have done it, and they’ve got an incredible squad.
#BULvULS
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 2, 2022
FT: If there was one thing the 19 436 fans who came out today deserved, it was a Vodacom Bulls win.
The boys delivered. Against a tough Ulster side, we claim a 34-16 win at Loftus. Take a bow, South Africa#Loftus25K #TrueToTheBlue @Vodacom #URC @URCOfficial_RSA pic.twitter.com/Wif5LeKpwZ
“We must keep our feet on the ground. It has been five great wins, and this is probably the biggest win we’ve had this year, because we lost to two other Irish sides, and beat Munster and now Ulster – and two of them are in the top four.
“That’s why it’s important that there’s a bit of a kick-start to where we want to be. We can enjoy tonight, and then we’ve got the Stormers away.
“They beat us at home, so we are going to have to make sure that we are good enough. They also beat Ulster, and they will take confidence from that and think they are where they need to be as a team.
“It’s going to be a great game, and hopefully all the Bulls (supporters) will go down to Cape Town for the weekend, and fill it up there with Bulls ondersteuners, because we like to play in front of our crowd.”