Cape Town - The Bulls won’t be lulled into a false sense of security despite scoring 11 tries against Zebre, and will have to “go back to zero” ahead of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship showdown with Leinster at Loftus.
The 78-12 dismantling of the Italian club will do wonders for the Pretoria side’s confidence, but now it’s all about claiming a quarter-final spot and Champions Cup qualification.
The highest position that the Bulls – who are currently seventh on 43 points – can finish on the log is fifth, but the final standings will be determined by the last match of the league stages, where Glasgow Warriors will face Connacht in Scotland on Saturday.
And their task will be made tougher by a Leinster outfit that may be missing their first-choice players, but proved that they are still tough to beat after coming from behind to beat the Lions 39-36 in a lastminute Ellis Park triumph.
That meant that the Irish giants retained their 16-match unbeaten record in the URC this season, and will want to finish off in style at Loftus ahead of the playoffs.
The Bulls produced some wonderful passages of play against Zebre – with much of that involving Springbok stars Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie – and after a tumultuous few months that led to 10 defeats in a row across all competitions, they would have regained considerable confidence. But there were times when they kicked the ball away on attack and conceded a few unnecessary penalties, which they cannot afford against a ruthless Leinster outfit.
“We must make sure of our discipline as we can’t give too many easy entries into our 22, because if we do that against a side like Leinster … their conversion rate is pretty high. We must build pressure either with ball-in-hand or with our kicking game,” Bulls assistant coach Pine Pienaar said.
Arendse 🤝 Moodie - Name a better duo 🤫 pic.twitter.com/TMrT5JQyrp
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 15, 2023
“Their support play on the day was fantastic, and it’s something that (backline coach) Chris Rossouw has worked really hard on. Well done to the players for executing in the opportunities that were created.
“The boys will take confidence out of (the performance), but coming back to Loftus on Monday, we will go back to zero and get a good week of prep before Leinster. “We tried to stay cleaner on the discipline side and not give the opposition easy entries into our 22. Unfortunately at certain stages, we got onto the wrong side of the referee, but it was a big focus point that we don’t concede silly penalties in certain areas of the field.
“We must make sure we are spot-on this week against Leinster, and how the chips might fall (in the playoff race) is up to the other teams.”
Another positive development was the fact that Johan Goosen got another 80 minutes under his belt, having returned from a shoulder injury in a recent Currie Cup match against the Griffons.
He had a mixed bag of a performance against Zebre, with some good moments interspersed with a bit of hesitation on attack, but he slotted 11 out of the 12 kicks at goal and should be sharper for the experience against Leinster.
“If your selection stays there, then your synergy as a team ... they start to understand the way that we want to play and build pressure in a game. Goose started at No 10 and played really well, and the forwards upfront really laid a good foundation for him – and Embrose (Papier) played well, so it was a collective effort and it was a good performance,” Pienaar said.
“You can see why they (Arendse and Moodie) are Springboks and why they are currently in the plans for the World Cup. If all the other players do their work well, that gives opportunities for Kurt and Canan to shine.
“Johan was injured and out for a few weeks, and he came back and played 80 minutes, starting well at flyhalf and finishing at fullback.”
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