Cape Town - Even though it was a ‘B team’ in their previous encounter, a full-strength Bulls side will take enough confidence out of that performance to believe they can knock over the Exeter Chiefs in Saturday’s Champions Cup clash at Loftus Versfeld (7.30pm kickoff).
The last time the two teams squared off was on December 17 at Sandy Park, where in freezing conditions, the Pretoria side gave a good account of themselves despite going down 44-14 in the end.
They were held up over the tryline twice, should have been awarded a penalty try when one of the Exeter players came in from the side to stop Bismarck du Plessis scoring off a maul, and were blown off the park by referee Mathieu Raynal at the breakdowns.
The Bulls scrum also battled on the day, and the visitors went from 15-7 down to 32-7 before half-time, with England hooker Luke CowanDickie completing a hat-trick of tries in the second half.
Good news for Jake White’s team is that CowanDickie is out with an ankle injury sustained in Exeter’s win over Northampton last weekend, while Scotland fullback Stuart Hogg also didn’t make the trip to South Africa due to a sore heel.
But the English club will still field a formidable side at Loftus, with the likes of Test players such as Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Sam Simmonds.
The Bulls, though, regained their touch somewhat in last Friday’s 29-14 win over the Dragons in Newport, and while captain Ruan Nortje admitted that it wasn’t a perfect performance, they at least stopped a three-match losing streak from continuing.
“I wouldn’t put the error rate down to the travelling or anything on the outside. I just think it wasn’t one of our best performances. We left a lot of … I wouldn’t say tries, but opportunities out there that could lead to tries,” Nortje said about the display against the Dragons.
“When we get a penalty, we gave the ball back to them, which put us under pressure instead of us keeping them under pressure. Small handling errors, turnovers we gave away – the ball was very slippery, but that’s no excuse.”
There were some good moments on attack, though, with the best being Johan Goosen’s early line-break that led to Kurt-Lee Arendse’s opening try.
Goosen was a late replacement for the ill Chris Smith at flyhalf, and is likely to continue in the No 10 jersey this week, where he will hope to spark the backline once more.
The Bulls were superb in the scrums against the Dragons, but must ensure that their line-out operates smoothly and that they avoid conceding breakdown penalties.
“Exeter Chiefs were double champions a few years ago, so we know what’s coming. It’s a world-class team, and they want to out-work you … They want to put phase-after-phase together, and take you on upfront. In all facets of the game, they want to kill you,” Nortje said.
“So for us, it’s just to focus on what we do best, and keeping our discipline and penalties as low as possible. It’s going to be a massive physical battle as well.
“The Pretoria weather is a bit different compared to Europe, so it’s definitely going to be lekker hot, and a good night for nice running rugby. Hopefully we can get some good continuity between backs and forwards and play some good running rugby.
“It was a good experience for the guys, and Exeter just managed the game well (in the December game).
“Like I said, our discipline in certain areas of the field let us down, which placed Exeter in a good position on the pitch, where they could build their phases.
“If you give them those 22-metre entries, they will make it a long day for you, so we need to focus on ourselves and just have to step up on our discipline, to play in the right areas of the field and to know we are playing at Loftus, which is a proud thing for us.”
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