The Vodacom Bulls leave for their Investec Champions’ Cup fixture against Bristol Bears on Tuesday night knowing that whatever happens in Saturday’s game, it is a “catch 22” situation for them.
Considering the travel demands and the crossover from summer to winter in terms of the hemispheres, as well as travelling longer through the middle east to get to Europe, the Bulls certainly want to stake a claim this weekend, but know either way they may be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
The realities of the Champions’ Cup will always be difficult for the South African teams, but the scenario facing the Bulls is a win could set up another convoluted travel session for them while a loss would mean another difficult scenario.
The Bulls are currently third in their pool and have just two games left. While the top four teams qualify, the side finishing fifth heads to the EPCR Challenge Cup and the side ending sixth drops out completely.
If they do win and gather enough points over the next two weeks - facing unbeaten Bordeaux-Begles next weekend at Loftus - they will qualify for the round of 16, but as the schedule for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship sees them away on tour just before that round, it could turn tricky for the Bulls.
“You guys wouldn’t have picked this up, but the week before the round of 16 game, we play Dragons and Leinster away. It’s almost a catch 22, because if we win we might have to go back to Pretoria to play the Round of 16 game, and then away again after that. If we lose we could end up staying in Europe for three weeks - I’m not quite sure which is the best scenario.
“Flying back here again or three weeks over there. Post the game we will know exactly where we stand,” White said.
Obviously the demands of two weeks in Europe, then a trip home and possible trip back to Europe the next week isn’t ideal, but three weeks in Europe offers its own challenges in terms of rotating personnel and keeping players fresh.
But this game is still a massive one for the Bulls, and White knows this.
“Look it is a tough competition, as I say every week. And winning one, losing one puts us in the middle of the pool and this will determine if we go through or not. Bordeaux still have to come play us but once this week is over you will definitely know where you can finish in the pool - if you are in or out of the playoffs, or do you go to the Challenge Cup. It is a massive game for us,” he explained.
“We played really well against Lyon and had it not been for one or two decisions - and here I’m referring to playing decisions - we could have maybe got 5 points from the game. You see how good Lyon is, and last year they bashed us, so we have a gotten a lot of learnings out of that game. They also need to win this one, as do Bordeaux, who play Saracens this weekend. So the next two weekends, whether we have to play at home or away in the top 16 is crucial.”
White added that the time off over New Years’, after the team shifted their derby against the Emirates Lions to the last week in January, had served the team well.
He noted how many had criticised the Lions for taking the festive period off, but their win over the Sharks had vindicated their decision.
“The nice thing is that everyone spoke about they wouldn’t be good enough and they were. I can compare with us last year, we had to play over the festive season and we weren’t playing well. Got a couple of losses, got into a downward spiral. The lessons we learnt was that we got a bit of time off. We have quite a nice run in the next two months, we have two games then two weeks off, then a game and two weeks off. We are in a good position and can determine our own destiny. We can still finish strong for the playoffs and that is where we want to be.”
The Bulls will name their side for the clash as per EPCR rules on Friday afternoon.