Bulls bracing for Sharks onslaught

The Vodacom Bulls are expecting the Cell C Sharks to bring their best for their Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby match in Durban on Saturday night.

Assistant coach Chris Rossouw knows that while the Durban side rested a number of stars for the win over the Emirates Lions, it will be a very different story when they get to Durban this weekend, with all the Springboks expected to play.

And that will up the pressure on the Bulls, who won’t want to go through both derby weekends away from home with losses after going down against the Stormers last weekend in Cape Town.

“The Sharks will go full blast. Every Springbok they have available will play. There is no doubt in my mind. We also know that the guys who aren’t Springboks are still experienced,” assistant coach Chris Rossouw said, showing that the Bulls were bracing themselves for an onslaught.

The Bulls are still reeling from their loss in Cape Town, but Rossouw said they had moved on, and away games were a bonus if you won them.

“We all know that any away game that you win is a bonus. I am open to correction but it’s only two or three out of 10 games that are won by the away side. Being in South Africa, any local derby that you play is a big game.

“Both of these teams, the Stormers and Sharks, are good. In a lot of ways they have the same defensive system and play a good kicking game and have some great players. The Sharks are on the up. We are really looking forward to this challenge.

“Against the Stormers, we had about seven minutes when we lost concentration but there were a lot of positives. Our scrum, especially, was unbelievable. We had a good lineout platform to play from.”

The Stormers effectively shut down the Bulls attack by shutting down Lionel Mapoe in the midfield and the Bulls will know that the Sharks will have taken note of this and could use Lukhanyo Am in a similar tactic. That is why they have planned accordingly.

“It’s extremely difficult to play against a rush defence. One of the things that always stands out against that system is if you keep the ball, you bargain that you will get reward from the ref in the form of an offsides penalty. The Stormers were once or twice offside, but we didn’t get that reward.

“Basically, what the Stormers tried to do is to close down the third pass. That’s why Lionel Mapoe was cut down. He was giving or getting the third pass. If we can get away from that, there will be space on the edge of the field. We will be playing against the same system this weekend so we need to be clever with how we play.”

But like anything there is always a way of adjusting to beat the rush defence.

“There are three ways to beat a rush defence,” Rossouw explained.

“The first is to kick. That’s the No 1 option and it’s why South African teams kick a lot. Another tactic is to keep the ball and get the offsides reward from the referee. In a rush defence, 50 per cent of the time, the defending team is offsides.

“Apart from that, you also have to vary your attack. You shouldn’t overplay, that much is obvious. You need to understand where to play and where your target points will be.”

All of this makes for an intriguing build-up ahead of the derby, and it will be interesting to see how both sides react as a desperate Bulls side heads to Durban.

Let’s end 2022 with a BANG ??#TrueToTheBlue @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/VYrubiNpCx

— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) December 29, 2022