Bulls face anxious wait over Puma game

The Vodacom Bulls face an anxious wait this week to see if their Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked game against the Phakisa Pumas will go ahead.

The Pumas had their game against the Emirates Lions postponed because two players and an official tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the entire tight five to be put into quarantine last week.

And while it seems unlikely that there will be time for the Lions game to be rescheduled, the Bulls game is scheduled for Friday night.

The problem comes in that the Pumas players will exit their quarantine on Thursday, leaving little time to prepare for the game. But they have committed themselves to playing the game if at all possible, as long as they are not prevented to do so by SA Rugby or the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

If all players exit unscathed by the disease and there are no further tests, the game will go ahead, with the Bulls already signalling they could shift the game to Saturday and not Friday to accommodate the Pumas.

The Bulls need to play the game in order to try and win the Super Rugby Unlocked competition – they sit two points ahead of the Sharks and Stormers, who face off on Saturday and if one of those teams win with a bonus point, and the Bulls game is called off and the Pretoria team only gets two points, the winner in Durban will pass them.

With questions already surfacing about the competition’s integrity, those in Pretoria would see it as a travesty if the trophy is “stolen” away from them by matters beyond their control.

The Bulls do currently have a superior points difference so the Durban result would need to include a bonus point to pass them – three tries more than the losing team in essence.

The game cannot be moved to Sunday as there is a Mamelodi Sundowns game scheduled for Loftus Versfeld, unless an alternative venue is agreed upon by both teams.

The Pumas President AG Visser said this weekend that it would be difficult to reschedule the Lions game but they would do everything in their power to make sure the Bulls game takes place.

Given the history of the games between the Bulls and Pumas, a victory for the Bulls is not a foregone conclusion, especially with the extra motivation that their coach Jimmy Stonehouse has when playing at Loftus Versfeld.

“It will be difficult to reschedule,” Visser said, “Any team wants to measure yourself against the bigger teams to show where you are. We want to play and if it is possible, we will play both games. If it can be fitted in the current constraints of the competition is another story.

“We have to get to a point, and it is a pity for the Lions, because it is the second game that has been postponed where they have been involved. But it does not seem as if there is an open date to play the game.

“The Bulls game is easier to try and shift. The game is set for Friday and if we can’t play on Friday we can look at playing either Saturday or Sunday. But there are other logistical issues that need to play a role as well before that can be confirmed.

“At the end of the day from our side we will try everything in our power to play the game, but we will be led by SA Rugby. Whatever we can do to make sure the game is played, we will do.”