Cape Town - Rugby teams don’t normally take any confidence out of a 30-point defeat, but it’s a different scenario for the Bulls ahead of tonight’s Champions Cup showdown with Exeter Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld (7.30pm kick-off).
The 44-14 score-line in favour of the English club at Sandy Park in December is a bit of a skewed outcome, considering that the Bulls took a 7-0 lead and had their moments against the former European champions.
And on top of that, it was a second-string side from Pretoria who made the long trip to the UK, whereas the team announced yesterday is the best available match-23.
The heavyweights such as Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Elrigh Louw, captain Ruan Nortje and many others will run out onto Loftus tonight keen to overturn that 30-point defeat into a victory.
Attack coach Chris Rossouw firmly believes they have the ingredients to knock over an Exeter side this time missing influential hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and fullback Stuart Hogg.
“We all know Exeter are known for how they execute in the 22, so if they get in there, they are quite effective. We know that they don’t really play in their half, so when we get into the middle of the field, they are quite prepared to play and build phases,” Rossouw said.
“When we played them the last time – some guys stayed at home – we were up early, and they scored two tries. Then we were held up twice (over the tryline), and if we had to get those, it’s a different picture.
“And the tries they got were basically off silly errors we made in the middle of the field, in that zone, and they pinned us in our 22.
“We are really looking forward to this week. The guys have prepped well, and the only way you can test yourself is against the best to be sure that you can do it.”
Some of that confidence is also derived from last week’s 29-14 United Rugby Championship win over the Dragons in Wales, where the Bulls pack flexed their muscles for a change after disappointing displays in defeats to the Stormers and Sharks.
They won’t have powerful ball-carrier Cyle Brink around this time, but the experienced Nizaam Carr has all the skills to bring a different dynamic to the Bulls loose trio.
Chris Smith has also been brought back at flyhalf for Johan Goosen after sitting out the Dragons encounter with a tummy bug.
“Cyle has a little bit of an injury, but it looks good, so hopefully he will be back next week. In terms of our pack, we’ve got a good pack and it’s one of our strengths – so I don’t think we must underestimate our pack,” Rossouw said.
“They are dominant and physical, and then they can play the fast game. So, playing at Loftus, we’d like to mix that up and use the altitude to get the advantage.
“I know Exeter’s got a good pack, but by no means do we not have a good pack. Nizaam fills in there and gives us a good mix between playing direct and being a good link between the backs and forwards.
“I thought it was a brilliant performance (against the Dragons), but what Ruan (Nortje, Bulls captain) might have suggested (when saying it wasn’t their best performance) is that we were definitely on top of them in terms of the scrums.
“In terms of game management, our kicking game was exceptional and our kick-chase. When we had them under the pump, we definitely slipped… The concentration lapses or error-rate is what he maybe referred to.
“Defensively, we made a good step-up, and discipline-wise, it was one of our best (games). And if you look at how our scrum and maul performed in those conditions, plus the kicking game, it was a very good performance.
“Ruan may have only been referring to the moments where we leaked the pressure, and that is part of the growing process for us – how we manage the game – and getting everyone on board to not let that happen.
“That has been probably our biggest focus over the last couple of weeks, and last week was actually a great showing of that.”
Bulls Team
15 Kurt-Lee Arendse 14 Canan Moodie 13 Wandisile Simelane 12 Harold Vorster 11 David Kriel 10 Chris Smith 9 Zak Burger 8 Elrigh Louw 7 Nizaam Carr 6 Marco van Staden 5 Ruan Nortje (captain) 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Mornay Smith 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Bismarck du Plessis 17 Dylan Smith 18 Francois Klopper 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 WJ Steenkamp 21 Embrose Papier 22 Johan Goosen 23 Lionel Mapoe.
@AshfakMohamed