The Vodacom Bulls now have their preferred Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinal against the DHL Stormers, but will their momentum be sustained enough to carry it through to cause a major upset in Cape Town in a fortnight’s time?
The Bulls haven’t really made a secret of the fact they want to play in Cape Town rather than travel overseas for a playoff game - and the fact they will face the Stormers adds a lot of extra spice to a north-south derby that will certainly create a lot of debate over the coming two weeks.
It’s understandable that the odds would be more against them had they had to go to Belfast or Glasgow given the travel schedule and the general fatigue catching up with them at this time of the season, so a trip to Cape Town will be very much preferred for them at this stage.
But there is the underlying subtext of the Jake White-John Dobson rivalry that will fuel the debate over the coming weeks.
It has been suggested (and by this writer as well) that the Bulls have been a little too obsessed with the Stormers of late, especially with five games in all competitions going the way of the Cape side.
This is probably natural given how professional sport works and the fact that no proud coach would want a record like that, but the Bulls now see an opportunity to end that streak and give themselves a redemption in a season that has been below par.
It would be foolish to say the side hasn’t dug themselves out of the hole they were in mid-season and with 140 points in the last two weeks they certainly would be brimming with confidence and ambition at the right time of the season.
Their Currie Cup side has lifted themselves from their shocking start and the Bulls in the URC ended up as the side that scored the most points in the competition - despite their sixth place finish a feat indeed.
So all of that makes them dangerous opponents for the Stormers and will give them confidence going to Cape Town.
But there are still some lagging questions - including the fact that the opposition over the last two weeks - Zebre Parma and Leinster’s young Academy graduates were a lot less opposition than the Bulls are going to find in Cape Town.
The Bulls know this - assistant coach Chris Rossouw was actively trying to play down the massive victory over Leinster’s young side - a win that ironically was the biggest defeat in professional rugby for the Irish powerhouse.
Rossouw though, was looking at the fact that the Bulls kept their shape and were disciplined enough to put up the 60 points.
“The way we were clinical and then played some nice, direct and expansive rugby. That’s difficult and the reason I say that is because we know this is not their main side. Generally what happens is that it can become loose, and a lot of errors, but I thought we were sharp and clinical and put them to the sword. That was probably the most pleasing thing for us as coaches,” he explained.
“We know that it is not their main side. They are a proud union and unbelievable players and we know that this is probably their second side with some Academy side, but to put that score up against a team that is well-coached - we saw last week against the Lions how they can keep in the fight - so for us it is unbelievable. In the midst of that to stay focused, stay clinical and to put up that score, says a lot about the team and about our approach for these last games.”
The biggest concern is that the week off as Europe starts to wind up the Champions’ Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup this week is that the momentum is stunted by a week’s break - something the Bulls will be working hard to avoid.
But they see the quarterfinal as a massive game and know what they will face is much tougher than the past fortnight. And momentum, Rossouw agreed, is key to that.
“Momentum is critical. I know we were under pressure, mostly from you guys (the press). But how momentum works is that it is like a wave and if it doesn’t break it just becomes bigger and bigger and bigger, up until the point it breaks.
“And when it breaks it washes everything. We’ve built that momentum over time, we have got the nice wins and we have now got the big ones. It is very important for the morale, the confidence and the cohesion of the team, you can see the guys are gelling, so it comes at the right time.
“We’re happy to see it, but you know when you go into playoffs, especially away from home it is going to be critical that we keep on peaking. The momentum that we have built up over time, even though we didn’t get the results in some of the main games, is now kicking into gear, but we know the playoffs is a completely different game.”
The clash is a mouth-watering one that will take centre stage over the coming days and with Marcell Coetzee potentially returning for it, the Bulls have a right to be confident.
But whether the momentum and Coetzee will be enough to break the Stormers’ dominance waits to be seen.