Ken Borland

As they prepare to face the Sharks in a vital United Rugby Championship derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, the Bulls’ focus seems to not be so much on the way they play but the speed with which they execute their plans.

Sluggish would be one of the words to describe their grinding 21-13 win over the Lions last weekend, and it is clear coach Jake White has instructed his team to lift their intensity and therefore their pace of play when they take on the Sharks.

“We will take some confidence from the Lions game, but it is clear we still have a lot to learn,” scrumhalf Embrose Papier said. “It was a very slow game and we need to work on our breakdown.

“It’s going to be a tough game and a big physical battle against the Sharks because they are a really good side with a lot of Springboks. But as scrumhalves we have to be really fast. Our forwards do too, they need to set quickly because the Sharks scrumhalves like to snipe as well.

“We have taken quite a few positives out of the Lions game but there’s also been a lot to work on. It was a slow game, but when teams come up to Loftus and the altitude here, we must lift the tempo so we make it hard, especially for teams from the coast,” Papier said.

Apart from injecting more speed into his service from the breakdown, Papier has also been putting plenty of work into his kicking game with consultant Fourie du Preez, the great former Springbok scrumhalf.

“I just played running rugby at Garsfontein school and at U19s and U21s, but I made lots of mistakes and that’s why coaches devise plans. So I play more in the system now and I can still do my own thing in the system.

“I’ve been trying different styles of box-kicks and I now feel comfortable with the way I’m kicking. I need to do the basics right and stay in the system, get the balance right between passing and kicking.

“Fourie is a legend with lots of experience and I am learning a lot with him. We work a lot on passing, kicking and running lines. Fourie was one of the best ever at those and he also had a big work-rate,” Papier said.

The Bulls produced a performance full of senseless mistakes but played enough decent rugby to just see off the Lions 21-13 in their United Rugby Championship derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The home side endured a torrid first quarter, especially in the scrums where Lions tighthead Carlu Sadie was a massive figure both figuratively and literally. And the Bulls kept being forced to scrum because they made a number of handling errors – half-a-dozen in the first 15 minutes alone.

Considering their messy start, the Bulls were fortunate to be only 6-0 down after the first quarter, Lions flyhalf Tiaan Swanepoel slotting two penalties.

While the Bulls were full of ambition in terms of playing ball-in-hand, expansive rugby and getting into the wide channels, they did it in rather frantic fashion and it was only once they started to keep the ball a bit tighter in the initial phases, earning the right to go wide, that they started to gain momentum in the game.

Keeping the ball tight among the forwards brought the first try when flank Marcell Coetzee forced his way over after a pick-and-go from a penalty under the poles.

And the Lions suffered a key blow just a minute before halftime when Sadie went head-first into a tackle, conceding a relieving penalty. The Bulls used a blindside move at the lineout, drawing another penalty, for offsides, and then their rolling maul went over for an important try, scored by hooker Johan Grobbelaar, to give them a 14-6 lead at the break.

There was little respite available for the Bulls in the second half though, as the admirable Lions pack continued to give their all. The Bulls continued to struggle in the scrums, even though referee Aimee Barrett-Theron gave them a couple of fortunate penalties, and the home side were just lucky that the Lions’ execution was poor, especially at lineout time.

It was typically scrappy derby rugby, brightened only by fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try in the 49^th minute. It was a turnover penalty won by Coetzee that led to concerted pressure by the Bulls, centre Lionel Mapoe’s slick pass giving Arendse the space to drift outside his man in wonderful fashion and dart over for the try.

The Lions eventually gained some reward for their dominant scrum in the final quarter, allowing them to set a lineout maul inside the Bulls’ 22, from which lock Ruben Schoeman scored to cut the gap to 13-21.

But the Lions failed to hang on to possession long enough in the remaining eight minutes to put the Bulls under further pressure.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Morne Steyn (3).

Lions – Try: Ruben Schoeman. Conversion: Tiaan Swanepoel. Penalties: Swanepoel (2).

The advent of the Currie Cup competition running concurrently with the United Rugby Championship has played a role, but Bulls coach Jake White was never going to change much for his team’s derby against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, given how thoroughly they outplayed their neighbours last weekend at Ellis Park.

With the Bulls also having a midweek Currie Cup game, there has been little crossover between the two teams and the only change in personnel has been Cornal Hendricks replacing David Kriel on the bench. Zak Burger is now the starting scrumhalf with Embrose Papier coming off the bench.

It is a stark contrast to the Lions, who will bring a much-changed team to Pretoria with half-a-dozen big names missing.

“I have confidence in these players, the team is strong enough to win if we play well,” White said on Friday. “Victory is not a formality though, there are standards we have to meet and we have to make sure we play well again.

“The Lions will be different though and we expect they will play better. Their coach and captain has given them the gears and they have made several changes.

“That’s a massive message and clearly they’re telling their players that if they don’t play well, don’t pull their finger out, then they won’t get picked.

“We’ve had to field two teams this week, so circumstances have also played a part in us keeping the same group together. But I prefer our model, keep the combinations playing together so you get cohesion,” White said.

Beating the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld has been an impassable mountain for almost all visitors over the last couple of years, until the last fortnight, with the home side tasting defeat to the Stormers in the URC and then to the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup.

“We don’t want to lose anywhere and there is internal pressure around that of course, that’s the way it should be,” White said. “But there’s no external pressure, rugby is meant to be fun and we’ve got to enjoy it.

“If it had been a do-or-die match in midweek against the Cheetahs then maybe we would have fielded our strongest team, but we are mindful of our end goal.

“In 1996, Super Rugby’s first season, the Canterbury Crusaders finished last and they became the most dominant team in the competition. One of the key attributes of a succesful team is understanding and synergy between the players.

“Being a bomb detonator – now that’s a pressure job!” White quipped.

He will be hoping his team bring the same explosiveness they produced at Ellis Park last weekend to avoid another bombshell upset at home.

Bulls team:Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Morné Steyn, Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima. IMPACT-Bismarck du Plessis, Lizo Gqoboka, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel, Muller Uys; Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Cornal Hendricks.

There will be a bonanza of rugby at Loftus Versfeld this week with the Bulls taking on the Free State Cheetahs in a Currie Cup game on Wednesday and then also hosting a United Rugby Championship Jukskei derby against the Lions on Saturday.

And, if the players’ comments at Monday’s press conferences are to be believed, they don’t know yet whether they will be playing in the Currie Cup, the URC or both. The Bulls are set to name their team to play the Cheetahs shortly before midday on Tuesday.

For some players, it may be a bit unsettling, but centre Harold Vorster said he is one of the Bulls who is quite happy with the dual squad arrangement.

“It’s a difficult thing running both a URC and a Currie Cup team at the same time. But we’re enjoying it, it doesn’t matter which one you play in. I don’t care which team I’m in, when you get a chance, you’re just excited to play.

“Your opportunity can come at any time of the week, especially with Covid, and you need to be on the same page as everyone else whether you’re playing Currie Cup or URC,” Vorster said on Monday.

Of course, the last time the Bulls played at Loftus Versfeld, they let slip a 26-18 lead with 12 minutes remaining to lose 30-26 to the Stormers, a maiden defeat at home with Jake White as coach. It left a sour taste in the month and the Bulls produced an impressive performance in response last weekend against the Lions at Ellis Park.

Now it is the Lions who travel to Pretoria eager to erase the hurt from their previous outing.

“The Stormers game was a big disappointment, but fortunately we got another opportunity to fix what went wrong against the Lions. Our focus was just on getting back on track and being the best we can be,” Vorster said.

“We put the Lions under a lot of pressure and executed very well. I don’t think the Lions lack anything, they’re still a very good side, and it’s a fresh week, Saturday is gone and over.

“I’m sure the Lions will prepare very well and we’ll have to set new standards for ourselves,” Vorster said.