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The Bulls have emerged, once again, as the new powerhouse of South African rugby; It’s a fact whether non-Bulls fans like it or not.
The Bulls’ moving performances of late at the Super Rugby Unlocked competition have confirmed this.
While they had a break this weekend, their six-point lead in the round seemed big enough to be big favorites to win the competition, but now, with their game against the Pumas next weekend in jeopardy (due to Covid problems in Pumas), a nervous wait awaits them.
There is still a mathematical possibility that one of the other teams in the unlocked competition could catch them at the top of the rankings, but with the possibility of the Pumas game being rescheduled, the Bulls could have a hand in the trophy.
Not many people outside of Pretoria would have predicted that the Bulls would be so dominant in the competition, although it was always believed that former Springbok coach Jake White would change the team.
But no one believed it would happen almost overnight, especially after the Bulls opened their campaign with a fight for victory over Griquas at Loftus, followed by a narrow loss to the Cheetahs at Bloemfontein.
But then two dominant performances followed; a beating from the Sharks (41-14) and an annihilation by the Stormers (39-6 in 65 minutes before play was stopped), both at Loftus. They followed that up with a narrow 30-25 win over the Lions away from home at Ellis Park.
The Sharks and Stormers’ demolition work was particularly impressive as they took on the two teams that were at the top of their games in the Super Rugby competition proper before it stalled in mid-March.
Fast forward so far and the Sharks and Stormers are performing well, but they are not up to the standard that the Bulls have recently maintained.
You can’t deny the Bulls their moment in the sun. White has always talked about a good game and has almost always delivered, and that is also the case now. He has transformed the Pretoria-based team in near record time and has turned Sevens into stars like Stedman Gans and Kurt-Lee Arendse, also regular rugby stars.
Duane Vermeulen has never played better, Morne Steyn looks like a 25-year-old and Marco van Staden is, by some margin, the best No. 6 in the country. And there are others, like Jason Jenkins, Cornal Hendricks, David Kriel… the list goes on.
With points unlocked in the bag and momentum and confidence on the rise, they are sure to be the favorites to win the Currie Cup title in the coming months as well.
Rudolph jacobs
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