There’ve been six wins for Irish teams in six starts against South African teams in this edition of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship but Connacht are going to be hard pressed to keep that momentum going when they visit Loftus this weekend.
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The Vodacom Bulls have returned from tour smarting after their narrow red card impacted defeat to Edinburgh at The Hive last Friday yet they are arguably the South African team that has shown the best form in the early stage of the competition. Their one match against an Irish team was the one away against Ulster, where they were pressing for a draw towards the end and didn’t get the rub of the green from the officiating.
Now they are back at home where they have the heat and the altitude on their side, and while Connacht did manage a good win in Durban last week, they’re heading from sea level to a venue that is 1 339 metres above sea level. The Irish teams have generally struggled at altitude in the URC, with Connacht’s previous visit to Loftus ending in a 28-14 defeat early last season.
In that game the visitors managed to get away with slowing the game down, which might account for the way they managed to hold the Bulls in the second half after being down 21-0 at the break. But Bulls fullback Devon Williams, recruited in the off-season from the lowveld (the Currie Cup champions Airlink Pumas), says he and his teammates have a plan up their sleeves to get around the Connacht slowing down tactics.
“When we are overseas they know how to target certain areas and when they come here they know what they are up against and know it will be a dog fight,” said Williams.
“They will have areas to target (to even up the contest) in the same way we do when we are over there, and we know they will want to slow us down and slow the game down. It is obviously very hot up here and we will want to use that in our favour.
“There will definitely be more opportunities for us to throw the ball around a bit than we had overseas. We will be looking to speed up the tempo which will make it really difficult for them to keep up at altitude. They will want to slow it down but we have plans for that and if we can manage the game we want to we will be in the running (for the win).”
FELL SHORT BUT OVERALL HAPPY WITH THE TOUR
The Stellenbosch born and Paarl Boys High 31-year-old is in his first season of the URC and the four match tour the Bulls completed last weekend was a new experience from the former Western Province and Pumas player. He says the Bulls didn’t quite hit the target but came back with a lot of positives from the trip.
“We set a goal of 14 points and obviously we didn’t get that but there were still a lot of positives. Our last game was a nailbiter and it was positive that we managed to get two wins. It is never easy going over there. Now it is time to put the focus on the three games that we are going into on our own turf. It is time to convert the positives from the tour and turn Loftus back into our fortress and not give away any points here.”
LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING WITH THE BOKS
The Springboks are returning to the mix this week and Williams says he is looking forward to playing with World Cup winner Kurt-Lee Arendse, who he is well acquainted with.
“I’ve known Kurt-Lee for a while now and I also know the other wing Sebastien (de Klerk) from us playing at the Pumas together so it will be easy for it to fit together,” he said.
Bok fullback Willie le Roux is also on the Bulls books this season, as is Canan Moodie, who should in any case be moving into the midfield, but from the way Williams was speaking Le Roux won’t be introduced just yet. Playing with players of that quality will be good for Williams, who has settled well after the step up from Currie Cup to URC level.
“The first game I played in the URC was an eye opener for me but now I have found my feet so I am feeling really comfortable,” said Williams, who dotted down the first of the two tries the Bulls scored against Edinburgh last time out.
“It was a great decision to join the Bulls, everyone has been very welcoming and helped me get stuck into the setup. As a rugby player you must always be able to adapt and open to learn. Ultimately though, making the step up and how you go in doing that is up to you as an individual player. The players around you do make it easier and that has been the case for me at the Bulls.”