There’s a good practical reason why the Vodacom Bulls should have extra drive to beat the DHL Stormers in Saturday’s Loftus derby.
A reason that goes well beyond the memory of the hurt that was inflicted on them by their arch-rivals from the Cape during their run of seven consecutive defeats.
Hurt is the operative word when looking at what the Bulls should be looking to do in this crucial 12th-round Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash. Not hurt physically, but hurt in the sense of significantly denting their chances of finishing in the top eight.
It is crucial for the Bulls because of what victory would mean to their quest to stay in touch with champions Glasgow Warriors and ahead of the Hollywoodbets Sharks in the battle for a top two finish.
But it should also be crucial to the Bulls to keep the Stormers pegged outside of the top eight bracket and thus minimise the potential for the two teams to clash again in the quarterfinal stage of the competition.
Salmaan Moerat’s team are currently 10th on the URC log, and struggling to break into the top eight bracket that will secure them not only qualification for the playoff phase of the competition but also a place in next season’s Investec Champions Cup.
JAKE KNOWS HOW PLAYING IN SA CAN LIFT MOOD
Bulls director of rugby Jake White should know only too well the lifeline that might be offered to the Cape team should they be presented with a quarterfinal in South Africa. His Bulls team faced that scenario two seasons ago when they finished low down in the play-off seedings and ended up travelling to Cape Town.
Certainly from the Stormers’ side the knowledge that their opponents just had to undertake a two flight from Gauteng rather than across the equator was a source of much anxiousness in the buildup to that game. At least it was for their coach John Dobson.
Think about it - the team that finishes in the top four has had a good season and there is big expectation around their chances of going all the way.
They therefore have everything to lose when they host the first playoff game as they should be expected to win but yet it is a one-off game and a defeat will knock them out, with rivals who did much worse than them in the league advancing instead.
They set the target - you know what to do 🤭
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 25, 2025
🎟️TICKETS for our clash against the DHL Stormers 👇👇https://t.co/m0aR7qpPm9
🐂 Vodacom Bulls v DHL Stormers
🗓 1 March 2025
⏰ Kick-off: 17:00
📍LOFTUS@Vodacom #URC | @URCOfficial_RSA #FillUpLoftus pic.twitter.com/lu68xeiNZo
Conversely, the visiting team, having had a not-so-good season, has nothing to lose. They can treat that game as a final and will go in with the burden of expectation considerably lighter than their opponents. If they lose, they exit when they were expected to exit given their form over the duration of the season.
As it turned out, the Stormers, who had finished third to the Bulls’ sixth, won comfortably in that 2022/2023 quarterfinal, with the end score being 31-19 but in reality it was much more one-sided than that as the Bulls conflated their score with a consolation try right at the end.
But that was during the period when the Stormers had the wood on the Bulls, much like the Sharks appear to have now.
If the Stormers win on Saturday and then, as such a result will make much more possible, return to Pretoria for a playoff game in a few months from now, they will go in with the confidence of having won there the last time they visited.
If they are in the playoffs they will also have won the four home games that end their league commitments, so they will have something they don’t have now, which is winning momentum.
STORMERS WILL BE STRONGER IF THEY MAKE PLAYOFFS
Also, and this is significant, they could by then be a much stronger team on paper than they are now too. Right now, with the Stormers well short of full strength particularly in the backline, the Bulls should back themselves to beat the Stormers at Loftus.
They will start as strong favourites to do the business in the return derby on Saturday even though the Stormers would have won the Cape Town derby a few weeks ago had they just kicked an easy last gasp conversion attempt.
But how strongly will the Bulls be favoured if at the end of May the Stormers come visiting for a playoff game with some of their star players back and making a major difference to their attacking potency at the back?
INJURED PLAYERS COULD BE BACK
Manie Libbok is wearing a brace on his injured leg and is considered highly unlikely to play again this season, but it is possible he could be back by then. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is back in training and is expected to be ready for the Stormers’ overseas tour in the second half of March. Ditto Damian Willemse, and Suleiman Hartzenberg.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has played more as a flyhalf for the Springboks than he has for the Stormers but that is his preferred position so there’s no loss for the Stormers if he wears the No 10 instead of Libbok.
Willemse can slot in at inside centre alongside him but should be an option at outside centre if Libbok happens to be fit and Feinberg-Mngomezulu plays at 12.
Willemse has never worn the Stormers No 13 but has effectively taken up that position on defence for the Stormers when in partnership with Dan du Plessis in the past and playing there will make the possible continued absence of the team’s ace defensive organiser Ruhan Nel easier to overcome.
There are currently 15 of our players unavailable for selection due to injury.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) February 19, 2025
📋 Full injury update https://t.co/5zzAoEu4Hv#iamastormer pic.twitter.com/omFHNQ4zuG
For all his attacking skills, there are still question marks over Wandisile Simelane’s defence in the wide channels. Of course, Hartzenberg is considered the future in that position at the Stormers but there is a feeling he needs further growth before becoming the first choice there so his apprenticeship as a wing is likely to continue.
He did though wear the No 13 when the Stormers beat the Bulls in the 2022 Christmas derby and he was only 19 at the time.
NOT BEING IN EPCR MEANS PLAYERS WILL BE FRESH
JD Schickerling should also be back in the mix by then so the Stormers could be a much more formidable force come the end of May than they are now.
And while it is true that the Stormers could have suffered injuries in the meantime to players currently fit, as such is the nature of a contact sport like rugby, they do have the advantage over the other South African teams of not playing in the EPCR competitions.
As it stands, they have just seven games to play between now and the end of May. With a three-week break coming for them after they play Saturday’s game against the Bulls, and then another three weeks off in the first part of April while the EPCR round of 16 and quarterfinal games are played building up to their four-game home run, they are definitely not going to be over-played.
So they could arguably be a lot fresher too by the end of May than whoever their URC quarterfinal opponents might be.
The chances of them being in a quarterfinal though will be considerably diminished if the Bulls do the business on Saturday. It will effectively leave the Stormers needing to win their remaining six games, including the two overseas games against Ulster and Scarlets.
So the Bulls can do themselves a huge favour by hurting the Stormers’ challenge while they are in their current vulnerable mood and missing the influence of current Springboks (Libbok, Willemse, Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and future Springboks (Hartzenberg) at the back.
By extension, a Bulls win would also help the Sharks, as a Stormers quarterfinal in South Africa could just as easily be in Durban should they get there.
With the Stormers being the one local team to have actually won the URC, they should not be the preferred opponents of either of the two SA sides likely to finish in the top four and the best way of avoiding the extra tension that will come with that first playoff game also being a derby can be avoided by just ensuring that the Stormers’ season ends with their final URC league game.