Willie le Roux Willie le Roux will start at fullback for the Bulls against Cardiff. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
The Bulls should be in confident mode for today’s United Rugby Championship clash against Cardiff at Loftus Versfeld (4pm start).
They emerged from arguably the toughest tour possible with three wins out of four against Bayonne, Edinburgh, Munster and Glasgow across the Challenge Cup and URC, and had a week off after that.
But while the time away from the pitch was much needed, it can also disrupt the rhythm of the team.
Suddenly those gritty defensive sets in holding out Munster and Glasgow are replaced by slipped tackles or gaps in the backline, just because they enjoyed a breather last week.
And while those were memorable triumphs away from home, the Bulls would undo all of that good work if they were to fall short against a fifth-placed Cardiff side fighting for a playoff spot.
The Bulls appeared to have turned things around at Loftus Versfeld by putting 63 points past Zebre in their last home match, having kept Leinster at bay in a 21-20 triumph a week earlier.
But they have lost too regularly on their home turf this season, most notably against Northampton, the Sharks and then the Stormers, and the Welsh visitors also boast Test wing Josh Adams and former Bulls halfbacks Tinus de Beer and Johan Mulder.
“I think Cardiff mustn’t be underestimated. They beat Munster, they beat Ulster. Anyone who’s beaten Munster, needs to play well,” Bulls coach Jake White said during his team announcement press conference yesterday.
“I mean, we know that because we had to do it a couple of weeks ago. So, we won’t for any second take them as an easy option.
“They are also desperate, they want to play in the top eight, they want to make sure they make the playoffs.
“We’ve got lots of things we want to achieve this season, and one of them is to get a home semi-final. And that means we’ve got to get results at home against both Cardiff and Dragons with the last two pool games.
“We’ve done a lot of hard yards in the last couple of weeks to put ourselves in the position we’re in now. The challenge for us as a group, and it’s always like that for top teams, is you take the opportunities that are in front of you.”
One man who will hope to spark the Bulls attack is veteran fullback Willie le Roux, who recently recovered from a shoulder operation and featured as a replacement against Glasgow.
White admitted that Devon Williams was a bit unlucky to be bench as a result, but felt that it was necessary to give Le Roux an opportunity before the playoffs.
Captain Ruan Nortjé also surprisingly continues at blindside flank, but he will have two outstanding loose-trio partners alongside him in Cameron Hanekom and Marcell Coetzee.
“It was a very, when I say tough call, a very debatable call. Devon’s played really well. He’s adapted nicely to that backfield and he’s got pace,” White said.
“And he’s also left-footed, which we’re not losing much with the skill-sets. But Willie needs game-time. He is the number one fullback for us. He is the incumbent Springbok.
“We just sat down and thought, Willie is going to be very important to us because he understands pressure and management and he’s had real high-profile games in his career.
“So, it’s one of those, give him a start now, get him some game-time. It takes a little bit of pressure off the wingers and the rest of the backline as well.
“Ruan Nortjé is a phenomenal player and he’s very important to us. And the fact that we’ve got JF van Heerden who’s playing well, and we’ve got Cobus Wiese, who’s a four-lock, means that we have the luxury of playing Ruan as a seven flanker.
“I’ve done it before with players and it’s basically picking a side that will then be able to control all the facets of the game without compromising any of those things.
“We’re very comfortable that Ruan can do a role for us within the group that we’ve got playing now with him as a seven flanker.
“And I told you at the beginning of the year as well, I have no doubt that he could play seven flanker as an international player as well.”
Teams For Pretoria
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Canan Moodie 13 David Kriel 12 Harold Vorster 11 Sebastian de Klerk 10 Johan Goosen 9 Zak Burger 8 Cameron Hanekom 7 Ruan Nortjé (captain) 6 Marcell Coetzee 5 JF van Heerden 4 Cobus Wiese 3 Wilco Louw 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Bench: 16 Akker van der Merwe 17 Alulutho Tshakweni 18 Mornay Smith 19 Jannes Kirsten 20 Marco van Staden 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Devon Williams 23 Stedman Gans.
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett 14 Josh Adams 13 Harri Millard 12 Ben Thomas (captain) 11 Gabe Hamer-Webb 10 Tinus de Beer 9 Johan Mulder 8 Alun Lawrence 7 James Botham 6 Alex Mann 5 Rory Thornton 4 Josh McNally 3 Keiron Assiratti 2 Evan Lloyd 1 Corey Domachowski.
Bench: 16 Liam Belcher 17 Danny Southworth 18 Rhys Litterick 19 Teddy Williams 20 Dan Thomas 21 Taulupe Faletau 22 Aled Davies 23 Rory Jennings.
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