Former Springbok captain and Bulls legend Victor Matfield believes his former team have a fighting chance against Leinster in Friday night’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final in Dublin - if they play the right game.
The Vodacom Bulls face their fourth final in five years - against the same team that beat them last year for the Championship - and will finally want to get their maiden win against the odds in Dublin, where they will start as massive underdogs.
Leinster’s home ground advantage and their pedigree of having a virtual Irish test side counts in their favour, while the Bulls will be in their first season under new coach Johan Ackermann and will arrive with momentum and belief.
Matfield believes the difference this time around is the quality in the Bulls forwards, and while they could have won previous finals, they need to play the right game to win this one.
“I haven’t looked that much into the past finals. The one that they probably should’ve won is against Glasgow, where they had a great lead,” said Matfield, referring to the 2024 Final at Loftus Versfeld.
“I thought last week against Glasgow in the semifinal, they had the upper hand with the pack of forwards, and then between the two ten-metre lines, they went with two four-man line-outs off the top and there were two turnovers and two tries against them.
“I just feel they can be a little bit more conservative, especially if they’ve got the upper hand with the forwards.
“We haven’t seen them use the maul in the middle of the field. I think you are not going to beat Leinster at their own game – they are just too good at it.
“We need to play the power-strangle game, but we do have the outside backs from turnovers and from bad kicks to hurt them from the back as well.
“I would like the Bulls to really use their pack and use their dominance up front and use their physicality.”
Matfield added that the Bulls needed to use their physicality and their setpiece if they are to come out on top.
“It is a difficult one because Leinster must be favourites at home,” said Matfield. “But I think the Bulls are going to graft away for the full 80-minutes, and they must be at their utmost best as they administer their poison.
“The Bulls will need to be ultra-physical if they want to compete in this final, but I just think the momentum and belief that they have created in the last eight to ten weeks is there, and the unity they have is fantastic.
“The Bulls scrum is their strength — that is where they can win it, if they can win penalties there, they will be dangerous. So I predict the Bulls by one in a low-scoring match.
Matfield did pinpoint the fact the Bulls seemed to allow teams to convert 22m entries more than they should and if they give Leinster that chance, they may be in trouble.
“When Leinster get into your 22, their execution is unbelievable. Their conversion rate is excellent. If you give them too many opportunities there, you’re in trouble.”
“The Stormers made them grind for large parts of that game. The Bulls have been one of the most consistent teams in the competition over the past five years and they’ll look to do something similar,” Matfield said.
“If Leinster start building a lead, you’re in big trouble. That’s why the start and the physical battle up front are going to be so important.”
The Bulls surge to the final was exceptional given they were on a seven game losing streak earlier in the season and they have now won eight on the trot heading into the final.