Ken Borland

The Bulls know it would be stupid to expect any leniency from Munster, as the famous Irish club tries to get their season going, in their United Rugby Championship clash at Thomond Park on Saturday night, with coach Jake White almost painting his side as underdogs.

Based just on the URC log, then the Bulls would clearly be considered as favourites, sitting nicely in fifth place after just one loss in four matches, compared to Munster languishing in 12^th spot after just one win in four fixtures.

But White says there is far too much quality and history behind this Munster line-up for them to be taken lightly.

“Everyone in Ireland has been reminding us how tough it is to play at Thomond Park, from breakfast to dinner time. We are getting the whole vibe and hopefully that will help us make sure we’re ready.

“We played poorly last weekend, I’ll be the first to admit, and Munster are a good team, they have massive Test experience in their group. I’m sure they will get themselves up because they’re such a big club.

“They’re like the Liverpool, Man United or Barcelona of rugby because they have won European cups; they are one of the biggest clubs in the world. We’re under no illusions that it will be easy.

“We lost one game and we were rightly hammered as being poor on the night, they have lost three games, so imagine how they are feeling. I’m sure they’re disappointed with where they are at the moment,” White said.

Still, the Bulls must have a reasonable chance of repeating their 29-24 win over Munster at Loftus Versfeld last season, especially with Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier, Harold Vorster and Wandisile Simelane returning to a star-studded backline, and plenty of physicality up front.

“After a loss like ours against Glasgow, the players tend to rally around and are more focused anyway,” White said. “We had a good training week and we know it’s a massive game.

‘I think we could have some really good combinations with Johan and Embrose both Springboks trying to get back there, and Harold and Lionel Mapoe having played three Super Rugby finals together.

Bulls: Kurt-lee Arendse, Cornel Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Wandisile Simelane, Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw, WJ Steenkamp, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench – Bismarck du Plessis, Dylan Smith, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Vermaak, Marco van Staden, Zak Burger, Chris Smith, David Kriel.

The Springbok-laden Sharks are happy to take the underdogs’ tag into their United Rugby Championship quarterfinal against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, even though coach Sean Everitt said it did not matter much and the most important thing in a knockout match was to “focus on yourselves”.

Everitt named a team on Friday with nine Springboks in the starting line-up, while the Bulls have four Springboks in their squad, none of them incumbents.

Little wonder then that the Sharks coach did not put much store in the underdogs tag, even if his players have been fired up by it.

“Being called the underdog probably suits us and the players are very motivated by it,” Everitt said. “The Bulls are a formidable team to target at home, but fortunately we’ve had success in Pretoria and we are not too daunted by it.

“You have to focus on yourselves in quarterfinals because anyone from No.1 to No.8 can win. When you reach the knockouts, it’s about being in it.

“We’ve played good rugby along the way, and unfortunately not getting the result we wanted against Ulster does not make us a bad team. We’re taking a lot of confidence into this game, especially because of our success in the URC against the Bulls.

“Anything can happen on the day, we just have to make sure we focus on our processes and our discipline. And we can’t have soft moments in defence,” Everitt said.

Apart from defensive solidity, the Sharks are going to require a continuation of their recent set-piece dominance over the Bulls and composure under pressure.

“The Bulls have improved their set-piece, but we need that dominance in a knock-out game. That, defence and territory are the three important things and you need all of them.

“The Bulls have really developed their attack well since we beat them in February, they counter-attack well and their kick-return metres have almost doubled. But there are still opportunities for us there.

“At times we have performed really well, but there have been some unfortunate slip-ups. Some of those were controllable, others were not.

“But as a whole we have improved as a team and I am very happy with where we are at. It’s very important for our big players to stand up, their experience is going to be important to bring that calmness we need to be able to focus,” Everitt said.

Sharks: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Lukhanyo Am, Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Thomas du Toit (CAPT), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Replacements:  Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Ruben van Heerden, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain, Ben Tapuai.