The Vodacom Bulls may have the envy of other SA franchises with their road to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs, but to take another step forward, they are going to need to break another duck in the competition.
Surprisingly Saturday’s opposition - the Scarlets - are a side the Bulls have never beaten away from home and one that has been struggling on all fronts this season.
It is surprising seeing the Bulls lost by a point in 2024 when they were beaten by the Scarlets on a night of frustration when Bok hooker Johan Grobbelaar received a very dubious red card that allowed Scarlets back into the game.
The card was rescinded by a disciplinary committee a week later and that made the result even more frustrating for the Pretoria side.
The previous time the two sides met was in 2023, where the Scarlets scored a 37-23 win over the Pretoria side at Parc y Scarlets.
Since then the Bulls have beaten all Welsh opposition they have faced since that 2024 game and are on quite a run now since their terrible start to the season, having won six of their last seven games while Scarlets have only won once in the last six rounds - their win in Round 13 against Zebre.
So while all this points to a good night for the Bulls, they are wary of predicting anything against a side they have struggled against in the past.
“Yeah, I think with Coach Dwayne Peel and I've worked with them before as well, you sort of know what his mindset is going into games. It's a very good attacking team. They've got threats everywhere on the park. They're a team that stays in the fight until the very last minute,” captain Marcell Coetzee said ahead of the game.
“Particularly in our games that we played against each other, it was always close, close, but they managed to grind it out. It's one of those teams that doesn't go away. If you're not disciplined or you allow them into your half, they're going to capitalise on that.
“For us, we just have to nullify the mistakes and maybe watch our discipline this weekend because if you give them easy access, they take those opportunities and that makes them very dangerous.”
While the Bulls are on a high after a 47-7 win over Dragons last weekend, the scoreline definitely flattered them as they scored three times in the last 10 minutes, but it was testament to a plan that worked and the dogged determination to see it though.
“I think Ruan summed it up well after the post-match interview. He said, you know, the score doesn't reflect the game, what it was. You have to break them down eventually, and I think the importance of the bench played a massive role on the weekend. Guys like Marco coming on and making his impact felt, Jan Hendrik (Wessels) - that kind of injection is needed at the right time and they certainly delivered on that occasion.
“The defence, I think that really worked well for us. There were better connections, there was good line speed and the guys were communicating a lot, you know, so there was definitely energy on that. And that's the same performance we're going to have to need against the Scarlets.
“We are still under pressure. This is a massive game for us and we are approaching it with the greatest respect. We know it won’t be easy,” said Coetzee.
The Bulls have now been on tour for almost a month, and despite the desire to get back to Pretoria, they know they have a job to do.
“On long tours, it can creep in where you start longing for home, but the guys’ mentality is very good at the moment. It was addressed by coach Ackers earlier in the week.
“The biggest motivation is that we’ve never won there. It keeps you humble and provides extra motivation to train harder, be sharper and do our homework better.”
The Bulls will name their side for the clash on Friday.