Cape Town - After two 50-point scores and four consecutive wins, the Bulls are flying high in the United Rugby Championship (URC), but they know that a serious test awaits them in the shape of Ulster at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (2pm kick-off).
The Pretoria side are playing with increasing confidence on attack in every match, and produced eight tries in the 55-20 victory over the Dragons at the weekend.
They are getting closer and closer to the “complete game” that coach Jake White is craving, and while their handling let them down at times against the Dragons, they scored some scintillating tries as well.
And the fact that it came through a variety of ways – driving mauls, individual brilliance and turnovers – is what would be most satisfying to the former Springbok coach.
But White knows that the Scarlets the week before and the Dragons are battling at the moment. It will be a much tougher task to emulate against Ulster, who were unfortunate to go down 23-20 to the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday and will have intimate knowledge of the Bulls due to the presence of Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen.
“I watched that (Stormers) game with interest, and I thought they were very unlucky. I was getting a lot of debate about that final try, and had they scored that try, they win the game,” White said.
“So, it’s going to be a tough game. Duane knows a lot more about us than any other player – he was the captain here, so he knows the intricacies of everything we’ve done in the last two years. So, that’s something that we are going to have to think about this week.
“But it is not going to get any easier. If we want to play in the play-offs, we are going to end up having to play Ulster again or Munster again, or maybe Leinster again.”
The Bulls’ line-out and scrum were dominant once more against the Dragons, with lock Ruan Nortjé at the heart of their physical effort, alongside No 8 Arno Botha and captain Marcell Coetzee.
Fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse was the standout in the backline, with his mesmerising pace and footwork, followed closely by scrumhalf Embrose Papier, whose box-kicks were on point, while his speed kept the defence busy.
Ulster are second on the log, though, and will ask many more questions of the Bulls defence, while they are much more abrasive with their tackling as well.
“It’s nice to have a forward pack who can score from five yards out, and it’s also nice to know you’ve got outside backs like Kurt-Lee and Madosh (Tambwe) and Cornal (Hendricks), and the list goes on and on … If they turn the ball over and we get it in the 50, we can actually run in from there and score as well,” White said.
“There are times we scrummed well, times we mauled well, times we’ve played the ball in the backs well. I think it’s a work in progress for us as a group. If you want to win this competition, you’ve got to have an all-round game.”
The Bulls are now seventh on the log on 37 points, just one behind the Stormers, and need to get past Ulster to give themselves a chance of pushing for a home play-off spot.
They have two injury worries from the Dragons game, with Jacques van Rooyen (knee) and Tambwe (elbow) having to leave the field, and they are in doubt for the Ulster clash. However, White will hope to welcome back star No 8 Elrigh Louw, who missed the Dragons match with Covid-19.
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