Bulls intent on modest win in the Cape for top four finish

A TOP four finish remains the priority for the Blue Bulls as they head into their last round-robin match of the domestic competition today.

The Pretoria side travel to Wellington where they will take on Boland Cavaliers in their eighth match of the pool stages at 3pm.

The visitors will need a win to cement a top four finish even before the round-robin stage is completed next week.

The Bulls are in third place on the log, with the Free State Cheetahs sitting comfortably at the summit of the table. The Sharks in second place share the same number of points (25) as the Bulls. Sharks have a bye this weekend and will end their round-robin campaign with an encounter against defending champs, the Golden Lions‚ next week.

Should the Bulls beat Boland with a bonus point today and their Gauteng neighbours‚ the Lions‚ do them a favour by beating the Sharks at Ellis Park next Friday‚ then Nollis Marais’ side would be assured of a second-place finish and a home semi at Loftus Versfeld.

However‚ focus in the Bulls’ kraal is solely on a simple win that will ensure the side does not get knocked out of the top-four spots by Western Province or the Lions‚ who are still in contention for a knockout stage berth.

“It’s not so clear-cut‚” Marais said. “If we get four points then we will definitely be in the semifinal. If we get five points then we almost qualify for a home semi‚ depending on how the Sharks and Lions do.

“At the moment for us it’s all about getting the four points and making sure we are in the semis.

“If we lose then we might lose out totally. We are not going down to Boland to lose‚ but that could be a permutation.

“It will all come down to the last week of the Currie Cup.

“Western Province can put up 10 points in their remaining two games‚ so we might even find ourselves playing Western Province. There are just too many permutations.”

Marais has made it clear to his players in the build-up to their last pool game that they need to keep things simple against the Cavaliers.

“The thing for me is that I don’t want the players to be chasing scores this weekend‚ I just want them to play for the win and play the way we want to play in the final.

“If we win‚ the bonus point will come if we stick to the things that we have been doing‚” he said.

“But hopefully things work out for us. That would be great.”