Director of rugby Jake White said the Vodacom Bulls are in a “very good space” to snap a six-game losing run in the Vodacom URC against the DHL Stormers on Saturday.
It will be the first north-south clash between the two teams since last season’s quarter-finals, which the Stormers won 33-21 in Cape Town, as the SA Shield rivals do battle in round 8 of the competition at Cape Town Stadium.
White’s charges were denied by Lyon in France in the Champions Cup last week, while the Stormers claimed a last-gasp victory over holders La Rochelle at home, but the Bulls travel to the Mother City in third position on the URC table with the Stormers in 10th.
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Speaking in a Bulls conference on Wednesday, White addressed the significance of the meeting between the local giants while highlighting that both sides have heavily rotated their squads over the past weeks in anticipation of their duel.
“Whether it’s Christmas time or whether it’s June, it’s irrelevant; it’s irrelevant what happened last week, it’s irrelevant what happened last year, it’s irrelevant what happened the last couple of matches as well,” he told reporters.
“If you look at the Stormers, they’ve won their second game out of eight on the weekend by a point; no one can judge anyone by anything.
“The Stormers went to Leicester with a group and then they played against La Rochelle with a fresh group, and they had to wait until the last play of the game to beat La Rochelle with their fresh players.
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“I’m hoping this week that the fact that we’ve rotated and that we’ve got some fresh players and we didn’t have to travel back and forth to France will put some extra fuel in the tank for this weekend, because we know it’s a massive game.”
White added: “I can say verbatim from the psychologist in our team, Henning Gericke, we’re in a wonderful place, we’ve got a really great mindset and the players are really looking forward to the game.
“We haven’t beaten them for a while and that also tells you that eventually the tide’s going to turn.
“At this point in time we’re points ahead of most SA franchises and we have an opportunity this weekend to stay ahead of them before the break, so we’re in a very, very good place to put everything into this fixture.”
Injured co-captain Ruan Nortje hoped to recover in time to feature for The Herd against the old foe, but White gave nothing away on team selection: “We’ll pick our team and announce it on Friday.”
Photo: Luca Sighinolfi/INPHO/Shutterstock