Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee and fly-half Handré Pollard are calling for cool heads as they head to Newport to face the Dragons. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee says it is all about “holding your nerve” as the United Rugby Championship (URC) heads into a four-match straight ahead of the quarter-finals.
The Bulls visit the Dragons on Friday night, followed by the Scarlets, them go home to host Zebre and Benetton.
The men from Pretoria are in the tenuous eighth spot on the URC points table on 40 points from their 14 matches, with ninth-placed Connacht breathing down their necks (39 points). On the other side of the coin in the congested Top 8, the Bulls are just three points behind the fifth-placed Lions. In between the Bulls and the Lions are Munster and Cardiff (both on 41).
The Bulls, on paper, have one of the easier run-ins to the play-offs because their four opponents are at the bottom of the 16-team table — Benetton are 12th, and then the Dragons, Scarlets and Zebre occupy the final three positions on the log.
Coetzee says his team will not get lulled into a false sense of security, starting with the Dragons in Newport.
“If you look at all the Dragons’ URC games so far, they were always in the game, and then it was just moments where it got away from them,” he said. “They will take a lot of confidence from reaching the next stage of the Challenge Cup (the Dragons are semi-finalists).
“It makes it difficult because you don’t really know what team you will be getting on the day. That is why it’s important that we just focus on our plans that we want to implement. We spotted a few things we can exploit, but it’s not going to be easy, and our mindset must be right for the Dragons.”
Handre Pollard of the Bulls. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
The Bulls had a dreadful run earlier in the season — they lost seven games in a row — but seemed to have found their rhythm.
“We’ve put ourselves in this position, and only we can get ourselves out of it,” Coetzee said. “There’s pressure, but we’ve accepted that. Every game is precious now.”
Sitting next to Coetzee was Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard, who echoed Coetzee’s call for calm and accuracy.
“If we’re not accurate in what we do and we don’t implement our plan, our physicality and our set-piece dominance, then it can be a tough day at the office,” Pollard explained.
“The Dragons are going to have their moments. They’re not a bad team at all. You could see that in the Challenge Cup. They’re really competitive at home, so it’s not easy.
“It’s about us just putting them under as much pressure as we possibly can.”
Coetzee concluded: “Every log point of every game has to count.
"We know what we want to achieve. We have two Welsh sides (away) and two Italian sides (at home), we will give every minute of every game our full focus, and see where we finish.”
“You can’t look too far ahead,” Coetzee said. “Any mistake can be costly, and we can’t afford that now. We must hold our nerve.”