Bulls ought to halt Bordeaux’s winning streak.
On the surface, the Bordeaux Begles, who have been dominating both in Europe and in their home league in France, provide a formidable challenge for the Vodacom Bulls in the last round of the pool round of their Investec Champions Cup challenge. Furthermore, Jake White’s team will need to hope that Saracens defeat Lyon at home in order to move on to the next round as one of the top two in Pool 1 and earn the highly desired home-ground advantage in the round of 16. Should they fail to do so, the Loftus outcome becomes unimportant. Currently, Lyon leads the Bulls by two points and trails Bordeaux by three. Bordeaux has won all five of their games this season.
However, it can be far easier than it seems. The Bulls will know that Lyon is beaten, especially away from home, after forcing Lyon so close themselves and in Lyon with a subpar squad. Furthermore, Owen Farrell’s team needs to respond and recover from their crushing defeat in Bordeaux last weekend, which left Saracens looking quite weak. It’s a chance to qualify for their own round of 16.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE QUALITY OF THE PRETORIA TEAM.
Regarding their prospects of defeating Bordeaux, we must acknowledge the might of the Bulls. They were unfortunate to lose to Lyon and to the Stormers before Christmas; Jaco van der Walt missed a kickable penalty that would have given them the victory at the last second, but those two away from home opponents are not exactly Mickey Mouse teams. In both cases, the Bulls had their moments.
Aside from their loss in Edinburgh, the Bulls have shown tremendous momentum. The Stormers have made a strong comeback since the beginning of December, but the Pretoria team has unquestionably been the most reliable South African team in both competitions. They were unlucky, in my opinion, not to draw their second game of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship season, which was an away game in Belfast against Ulster.
Even though they will be losing two Springbok wings due to injury and prop Wilco Louw, which is a major loss, Willie le Roux will be available for the mid-afternoon shoot-out. Devon Williams, who won the Springbok World Cup, has improved as a fullback and performed well last week.