Bulls win flattens play-offs path

Thunderous close combat hits and greased lightning finishing on the wings helped the Bulls break the Stormers’ derby hegemony in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday at Loftus in Pretoria.

The Bulls surged to an emphatic 40-22 win that should considerably smoothen their path in the URC play-offs.

They are second on the points table behind Leinster and ahead of Glasgow Warriors on points difference.

“We get Leinster in two weeks,” said Bulls director of rugby Jake White. “We get to play one of the top three teams. Hopefully it will be one versus two. It will be a great opportunity for us to show whether we are up to it, especially in Ireland.

“We know we have our destiny in our own hands now. Look at what home ground advantage means,” said White, referring to the 50,000 fans who pitched up at Loftus.

The Bulls did not disappoint. Under leaden skies their forwards at times played with thundering authority, allowing bolts Kurt-Lee Arendse, Embrose Papier and Canan Moodie to light up the crowd.

It was up front, however, where the Bulls shut down the Stormers.

“If we wanted to have any chance of winning this game we had to win the collisions,” Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee voiced a derby truism.

It was a statement win that should greatly embolden the Bulls before pressing engagements later in the URC and the Champions Cup.

“It starts to sink in [that] the team is getting better and better. Now everyone wants to be part of a team that is winning,” said coach White. “This is massive,” said Coetzee on the same topic. “It creates the belief in the side that we can go all the way if we stick to the structure and the system. There is nothing like a big game like this to glue the team together.”

Team growth is a theme White has been keen to emphasise over the last while, and the performance against the Stormers suggests the trajectory is an upwards only.

“The gains you get from playing those boys at that time and winning in front of 50,000 is immeasurable,” said White about his deployment of the bench.

The win also puts to bed a seven-match losing streak to the Stormers, which had become a bit of a monkey on the back.*

THE TEAM ARE SECOND ON THE POINTS TABLE BEHIND LEINSTER AND AHEAD OF GLASGOW WARRIORS ON POINTS DIFFERENCE