JAKE White considers today’s Kings Park clash between the Bulls and Sharks (4.10pm kick-off) as a “bit of a trial run” for the United Rugby Championship play-offs, and wants his team to prove that they can handle the pressure of a tight game.
While the Bulls are pushing for top spot on the log and the Sharks won’t make the quarter-finals, the Durbanites do come off a Challenge Cup final triumph over Gloucester last weekend.
Coach John Plumtree has also picked all of his available Springboks. Eben Etzebeth, Grant Williams and Makazole Mapimpi are out, but Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch will front a daunting pack of forwards.
The Sharks will want to finish off their season in style at home, and the Bulls hope that competitive spirit will test them properly before next week’s quarter-final at Loftus Versfeld.
White made just one change to his team yesterday, with Johan Grobbelaar starting at hooker in place of Akker van der Merwe, so the former will go head-to-head with Bok star Mbonambi.
The usually tricky weather conditions in Durban may also make it difficult for the Bulls to attack with their backs, but they will still try to bring the likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie into the game.
“I must be honest, having coached there, it is a difficult place. The grass is different, the conditions are different, wind blows in that stadium,” White said yesterday.
“It does get a bit tricky. We would like to play the way we’ve played the whole year, but I also know that coming into the play-offs, you can’t really play exactly the same.
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“The pressure is different, the opposition play differently against you. Teams are much more settled now, so it’s a little bit about getting the balance right.
“We would like to use our backs and play with our forwards, interchanging like we do, and we would like to attack like we do and have.
“But again, without losing the understanding that it’s a little bit of a knockout game for us because it’s a trial run for next week.
“So it comes with a little bit of a different kind of pressure, and different questions need to be asked and answered.
“But I don’t want to go away from the fact that Kurt-Lee and Canan can score tries, and a guy like Willie (le Roux) coming into the backline like he does, it doesn’t mean we are going to kick the ball back.
“We are still going to stick with what’s worked for us this season.”
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Irish province Munster lead the URC log on 63 points, with the Bulls on 61, so the Pretoria side will hope that Ulster can beat the leaders in Limerick tonight.
“It’s never easy to come to Durban, but it’s a wonderful opportunity for us. If we win, we win the (SA) conference and get a chance to stay second on the log. If things go well, we could finish on top of the log,” White said.
“So there isn’t much motivation that we need or much more to play for this weekend.
“The thing is not to make mistakes. I know it sounds obvious, but as we get into these big games now, you can’t afford to make mistakes and give teams points for nothing; you need them to work for those points, and that’s going to be the same next weekend in the quarter-final.
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“It’s a nice opportunity for us to tighten up things before next week’s quarter-final, to be controlled and as organised as we can be.”
Bulls Team
15 Willie le Roux 14 Canan Moodie 13 David Kriel 12 Harold Vorster 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier 8 Cameron Hanekom 7 Elrigh Louw 6 Marco van Staden 5 Ruan Nortjé (captain) 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Wilco Louw 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Akker van der Merwe 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Francois Klopper 19 Reinhardt Ludwig 20 Nizaam Carr 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Chris Smith 23 Sebastian de Klerk.