Turning pressure into points: Five areas the Bulls must get right to tame Bristol Bears

The Bulls showed plenty of fight against the Stormers in Cape Town, but their inability to seize control during periods when they held the upper hand ultimately came back to haunt them in defeat.

As they prepare to face the Bristol Bears in the Champions Cup at Loftus Versfeld, the emphasis will be on delivering a complete performance to halt their losing streak. They enjoyed scrum dominance, brought plenty of physicality, and showed encouraging signs on attack.

With the Bears visiting Pretoria for a 3pm kick-off, we highlight five areas where the Bulls can assert themselves, claim a vital victory, and spark a turnaround in their season.

The scrum

The Bulls are generating a solid scrum platform, but too often it goes unused. They need to turn forward dominance into clear attacking opportunities rather than letting pressure slip away. It has become a cause for concern over the last couple of seasons, and still, there is no answer for where they are going wrong.

They need clearer plans off first phase — whether that’s using the bruising runs at No 8, setting up a midfield carry, or going wide early to strike — to ensure their forwards’ hard work pays dividends.

Defensive soundness

Stopping the Stormers from scoring tries with their dangerous backline shows that there has been massive improvement when it comes to tackling; however, the home team can’t let that only be a once-off. Their defensive record hasn’t been the greatest this season, but the match in Cape Town will hopefully turn things around.

Improved communication, quicker line speed, and better cover defence will help prevent soft tries, especially against teams that thrive on broken play. Should former Sharks player Benhard Janse van Rensburg face them, he will relish the chance to run at the Bulls’ defence.

Maximise the backline threat

The Bulls boast some genuinely dangerous backs, but often they are not put into positions to hurt opponents. Faster recycling and more decisive passing from the halves can give runners space to exploit mismatches. When the ball reaches the players out wide like Sebastiaan de Klerk, Stravino Jacobs and Kurt-Lee Arendse, the Bulls appear far more threatening and unpredictable.

So, it will be up to the likes of Embrose Papier, flyhalf Handré Pollard and the centre combination to ensure Loftus sees some running magic from the backs. If they can’t do that, it will be another long afternoon in Pretoria.

Ruthlessness in the danger zone

Maybe the biggest area for improvement, apart from converting scrum chances, is exploiting opportunities when they reach the 22m-area and turning the pressure into points. The Bulls often enjoy long spells of territory and possession but fail to fully capitalise. Better composure, sharper execution, and smarter option-taking are needed.

It will be crucial if they want to turn close contests into convincing wins, and they need five points against the Bears to keep their hopes up of making the Champions Cup playoffs. If they fail to collect five points at home, it becomes an almost impossible task.

Sharpening up the breakdown

The Bulls did not struggle too much at the breakdown in their previous outing, holding their own against the Stormers and securing largely clean ball to launch runs from. However, the Bears present a different challenge altogether, bringing a more physical and confrontational forward pack to Loftus Versfeld that could disrupt the tackle area.

The Bulls will need to be sharper and more aggressive at contact to avoid being slowed down. Loose forward Jeandré Rudolph should once again lead the onslaught when it comes to stealing ball possession, setting the tone with his work rate, physicality, and accuracy at the breakdown.