Chris Smith says the Vodacom Bulls are determined to control the momentum and avoid a late blowout against Benetton when the teams clash in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Herd host Benetton in a Vodacom URC quarter-final this week, and victory for Jake White’s men will clinch them a first semi-final at home next week.
They scored nine tries to beat the Italian outfit in round 17, but Benetton scored five and finished the game strongly, dotting down twice in the final 15 minutes.
The Bulls have scored the most tries (85) and points (639) in the URC this season, but have paid the price a few times for wilting in the second half of matches.
Smith acknowledges that it will take an 80-minute performance from the SA Shield winners against Marco Bortolami’s charges to stay the course for their maiden URC title.
“Without going into too much rugby detail, I believe it’s been rugby moments, momentum in the game and how the game has played out,” the flyhalf told reporters this week on the Bulls’ tendency to go missing at the back end of games.
“You do sometimes lose focus if you are up by 30, 40 points, which could have contributed to that.
“Sometimes rugby moments like that, where you get caught on the wrong side of momentum, do happen and next thing you’ve conceded two or three tries.
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“Hopefully, we’ve learnt from that and, if we are on the back-end of that momentum, we’ll know how to stop it and get it back on our side again.”
“They’re obviously a quality side,” Smith added. “Unfortunately, we did concede five tries, which isn’t ideal. That’s obviously a focus point for us, but they would obviously have also learnt a lot out of the game.
“So, it’s going to be a massive battle, having played each other two weeks ago, which is very recent. Both teams would have learnt something [about each other], it’s going to be an epic quarter-final.”
The 29-year-old playmaker has been a steady yet unsung performer this season, but is happy to take on a serving role and let the likes of Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse shine.
“I’m not the flashiest flyhalf, I obviously don’t have the greatest highlights reel. But I also like to think that my X-factor is doing the basics well and serving the guys around me,” Smith said.
“That’s what I sort of focus on, I focus on how I can contribute best to the team, according to my style of play, and how I can make the Canan Moodies, Kurt-Lee Arendses or the Willie le Rouxs outside of me do their magic in a linking role for them.
“My X-factor is doing the basics well and serving the team as best as I can.”
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