Bulls want to finish on a high

THE Blue Bulls will be looking to throw caution to the wind in their final Currie Cup regular-season match against the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday.

The Pretoria-based team is in a position where they have a slim, mathematical chance of reaching the semi-finals and are in danger of slipping into the promotion-relegation playoff zone.

If Western Province earn two points or more in the preceding match the Bulls’ semi-final hopes will go up in smoke, triggering survival mode.

Bulls coach Pote Human yesterday said their fate was partly out of their hands and that they would be looking to fire on all cylinders in their final match at home.

“There are many permutations if Western Province get two points before our match we are out if the Sharks get two points then we are also out,” Human said.

“We will have to beat them by a big score if we want to make it and we have to deny them a point. So we want to focus on what is in our hands if it is our last game, we want to finish on a high note.

“Everyone knows, and we are aware it wasn’t a good Currie Cup campaign for us.”

The Bulls were strengthened with the return of Springboks, prop Lizo Gqoboka and loose forward Marco van Staden after they were released from national duty.

The duo featured for the Boks in the farewell Test against Argentina at Loftus over the weekend.

“We know what we need to do,so our options are very clear-cut,” Human said.

“We need to beat the Sharks by 12 points, with a bonus point and make sure they don’t get a bonus point. The job at hand cannot be clearer than that. So this is a quarter-final match for us if you like.”

While it may seem like an impossible task, Human said they have done it before and would be looking to score tries in the deciding Currie Cup match of the weekend.

“We want to play to score tries, I believe I have the team to score great tries which is our mindset, but the Sharks have a good defensive system,” Human said.

“We will have to be patient, and everyone will have to be on song to score four tries against the Sharks. If we stick to our processes, the scoreboard will look after itself.”