Bulls under big pressure
Pretoria side need win in Argentina to stay in play-off hunt
THE trip to South America was always going to be an uncertain one for the Bulls, but it has been made even tougher by the precarious position that the Pretoria side find themselves in.
This Bulls team are entering uncharted waters and will need to discover their true selves if they are to have any hope of making the Super Rugby play-offs.
The Bulls have to win all three of their remaining fixtures if they are to fulfil their minimum objective for the season.
During the next three weeks the Bulls will need a favour from the Lions, who face the Sharks today in Johannesburg, and next week the Western Force, who will take on the Stormers.
Losses for the Sharks and Stormers will help the Bulls’ charge, but Nollis Marais’s men will also have to play their part by securing bonus-point wins along the way.
With the Bulls lying four points behind the Sharks and three points behind the Stormers, a bonus-point victory today would see them move into one of the coveted top-three spots in the South African group.
For all that, what would have been uppermost on the Bulls’ minds this week was how they will play the next 80 minutes.
Hopes that a return to a conservative game plan would bring them glory were crushed by the Lions four weeks ago, so the way forward for the Bulls should be to follow the Lions’ blueprint of a high-intensity and expansive game.
Tonight the Bulls will face a Jaguares team big on setpiece play – from their scrum to the rolling maul – but not so comfortable with the running game.
Although Marais will be looking to exploit the Jaguares’ weaknesses, which include their lack of discipline, much will depend on how effective the Bulls are with ball in hand.
“There are certain things that we need to adapt to and get better at, like the intensity and the way we want to play,” Marais said.
“We can’t just maul and think we’re going to win the match because when they stop your maul, you have nothing that works for you. We decided at the beginning of the season that we’re going to play a certain way, and the way we played against the Lions was not how we want to play.
“We were so conservative and controlling in that game that we failed to take our opportunities.
“We want to play a bit more with the ball in certain areas of the field. The set pieces will always be important but we need to find other ways of breaching the gain line.”
Apart from improving the execution of their game plan, the Bulls will need to believe in themselves.
“We have a belief in where we want to go and the players believe that too,” said Marais.
“We are not going to go into our shells, we are going to fight. The way to fight is to play with the ball and show people that we’re on our way somewhere. For us it’s about winning the next three games. We’re the underdogs now but we don’t see ourselves like that in the way we want to play.”