If the Vodacom Bulls are to have any chance of repeating their appearance in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final from last season - and right now that looks like a long way away - they will need to make their Loftus Versfeld home a fortress again.
The word fortress has followed the Bulls around at Loftus ever since the days of Super Rugby where a survey among Australian players found that it was the “most intimidating ground for opposition players in Super Rugby.”
While the introduction of wall to wall deejay music and a shift in fans may have taken a large part of that away, the Bulls were, until recently, a formidable force at home that often took travelling teams to the cleaners.
In fact the Bulls had an amazing statistic of a 14 game unbeaten run at Loftus Versfeld during the 2022-3 and 2023-4 season as well as remaining unbeaten in the Investec Champions Cup at home during this time under Jake White.
USED TO BE INVINCIBLE AT LOFTUS
That run was snapped in the 2023-4 season where they were almost invincible at home, losing only the URC Grand Final to Glasgow Warriors that year. The next season saw Northampton Saints come to Loftus and stun the Bulls, playing them to a standstill and ensuring an early end to their campaign in the competition.
This season, under new coach Johan Ackermann, the Bulls have struggled - losing high-scoring contests to Bordeaux-Begles and Bristol Bears in the Champions Cup at home, while their shock loss to the Lions in November also went further to take away that invincibility tag at home.
While the altitude and Bulls physicality have often favoured them in the contests at home, and allowed them to take control in the second half and run away with the game at times, even their URC contests in the early part of the season were strangely competitive, and too close for comfort.
A 53-40 win over the Ospreys and a 39-31 win over a second string Leinster side underlined the impending crisis at Loftus that led to seven losses in a row, but now that this crisis has largely been averted by three brave wins away from home - including a fifty pointer at Ellis Park - and it seems the Bulls are on the right track again.
But to make the same sort of impact they had last season will require a superhuman effort, and the ability to make Loftus Versfeld a fortress again.
SIX HOME GAMES LOADING
The Bulls are in the favourable position of having six of their eight games at home in the coming months, with their only away trip a jaunt across to Wales for two games. Given the current state of Welsh rugby, a good home run could set them up for two away wins and a solid run into the quarterfinals.
It may be too early to talk about a top four spot, but for now the Bulls will only concentrate on the game in front of them, starting with the February 28 clash against the Hollywoodbets Sharks, followed two weeks later by the arrival of the DHL Stormers - two games that will test their ability to win at home.
Both sides have won regularly in the past at Loftus - and both won there last season when Jake White was coach - and the Bulls know the local derbies are far from a certainty.
Following the two derbies, they have two tough games against Cardiff and Munster - both sides that sit above the Bulls’ seventh position at the moment in fifth and sixth respectively. Wins against both sides will further their cause and leave them in a situation where they can head to Wales in April to target wins against Dragons and Scarlets and then push for a big finish to the year.
They return home with two games against the Italian sides Zebre and Benetton - and while those have been tricky for South African sides, especially away from home, the Bulls will be hoping they have built up enough momentum to power them into the playoffs.
So despite a seven game losing streak, a tough European campaign and so much negativity, the three away wins has left them with a lot to play for, and a lot to gain in the coming months.
But all that can only be a reality if their beloved Loftus Versfeld is a fortress again.
VODACOM BULLS
February
28: v Sharks (H)
March
14: v Stormers (H)
20: v Cardiff Rugby (H)
28: v Munster (H)
April
17: v Dragons (A)
25: v Scarlets (A)
May
9: v Zebre (H)
16: v Benetton (H)