Long night ahead for slack Bulls

Bulls coach Pote Human has named midfielder Burger Odendaal as captain for their must-win Super Rugby clash against the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.

Odendaal‚ who has been handed the leadership role in the continued absence of Handré Pollard and Duane Vermeulen‚ said after Human named the squad on Wednesday that they are underdogs.

“We are the underdogs‚ there is no doubt about that‚” said Odendaal from their base in Auckland as they prepared to start their New Zealand leg of the Australasian tour on a positive note.

“That is good for us, as we can only concentrate on our own game and what we want to achieve.

“There will have to be a clinical performance from us and, if not, it is going to be a long evening‚” he said.

After he named the squad‚ Human said they would need to start well against an impressive Blues side who have won 11 of their 12 home games against the Bulls.

“We need to get a good start and sustain that throughout the match.

“They have some quality players‚ but the real test will be in the set-pieces.

“The Blues have the best scrum success rate [97%] in the competition‚ so that will be a critical area‚” said Human.

Vermeulen has returned to South Africa as part of the agreement with Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus to rest some of the players who are in the frame to go to the World Cup later in the year.