Bulls looking for a valuable bonus point

The Vodacom Bulls will be looking for a bonus point when they face the Ospreys on Friday night in their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Swansea.

The race for a home playoff place is the main focus for the Bulls, who need to win with a bonus point to give themselves the best chance of grabbing a playoff game at Loftus Versfeld.

But it won’t be easy, especially as 11 Ospreys were selected for the Welsh side to tour South Africa, including British and Irish Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones, and the Welsh side will be desperate for the win because it will see them qualify for Europe.

“We’ve got to give everything to try and get a bonus point because even if we win, we could still finish sixth or seventh with just four log points,” White said in making the team announcement on Thursday.

“People always look at players like Canan Moodie and Madosh Tambwe when it comes to x-factor and bonus points, but guys like Elrigh Louw and Cyle Brink, if someone puts them away in space or there is interplay between them, can also win the game for you.

“Jan-Hendrik Wessels or Embrose Papier coming off the bench can also do it. We need to find the ability to win in different ways.”

The team will see the return of utility back David Kriel who will earn a starting berth at wing, while Cornal Hendricks will also be in the starting XV, partnering with Harold Vorster to make up the midfield combination.

Juan Mostert and Stedman Gans are on the bench with Embrose Papier as the Bulls look to press their advantage home in the second half.

White reminded those who would listen that the game would be a difficult one for the Bulls, whose record away from home is nowhere near as formidable as at Loftus Versfeld.

“Eleven of the 33 players who will be touring South Africa in July come from Ospreys and seven of the forwards are playing for Wales. So we’re under no illusions that it’s going to be easy,” he said.

“Ospreys could have had more players picked too because there’s an outcry that eighthman Jac Morgan wasn’t chosen and people in Wales are saying Rhys Webb is the form scrumhalf.

“It’s easy to say ‘get a bonus point’, but both Ospreys locks are British Lions, Alun-Wyn Jones is one of the greatest Wales locks ever. It’s going to be a challenge for the whole pack.

“Then there’s the experience of George North at outside centre and Justin Tipuric. And Ospreys have a lot on the game as well. They may be ninth but they’ve won their last couple of games to come from nowhere.”

So the Bulls have their work cut out for them, and the Ospreys won’t be a pushover. It is up to the men from Pretoria to prove they can do the necessary if they want to be title contenders.

Vodacom Bulls: Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw, Cyle Brink, Marcell Coetzee (captain), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp.

Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel, Arno Botha; Embrose Papier, Juan Mostert, Stedman Gans.