Nollis bullish about his team’s title prospects

PRETORIA: They will be thousands of kilometres away from the comforts of Loftus Versfeld and will come face-to-face with a team who have a fair share of All Blacks, but this could be the perfect test to see if the Bulls are of the Super Rugby championship stock they claim to be.

The Bulls take on the Chiefs in a pre-season friendly at Ballymore Park in Brisbane today.

The result could go a long way to revealing an unwanted nightmare or in glorifying what the men in blue already think of themselves and how their season will pan out.

The fact that they are still in a building phase towards winning a fourth title hasn’t stopped them from dreaming big for this year already, and today’s hit-out against the Chiefs will give Bulls coach Nollis Marais a pretty good indication of where his team are before hitting the ground running at Newlands against the Stormers in two weeks’ time. “That is non-negotiable,” said Marais. “There is no other objective for us but to play in the playoffs and even win the competition.

“I know we have a three-year plan, of which we are only in the second year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t aim to win the competition.”

What will be valuable for the Bulls for the season ahead is how the likes of Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard performs and whether the pivot still carries the X-factor that made him a star three years ago, after missing out the whole of last year through injury.

The Bulls are struggling at openside flank with Roelof Smit out injured until midway through the competition, so Nic de Jager will be tested against the likes of World Cup-winning All Black Liam Messam.

At fullback, Jesse Kriel enjoyed a stellar breakout season two years ago and was particularly effective against the New Zealand sides then, and his return to the No 15 jersey, and to form, could signal the beginning of another stint of dominance by the Bulls in Super Rugby.