Like it or not, White’s Bulls are a South African rugby powerhouse again
They're playing powerful, yet attractive rugby, while several new stars have emerged on the scene, among them some former Sevens performers.
There may not be any fans in the stands at the moment, but the Bulls are again the team to beat in South African rugby. Picture: Getty Images
The Bulls have emerged, once again, as the new powerhouse of South African rugby – it’s a fact, whether you (non-Bulls fans) like it or not.
The Bulls’ rousing performances of late in the Super Rugby Unlocked competition have confirmed as much.
While they had a bye this weekend, their advantage of six points going into the round seemed big enough for them to be heavy favourites to win the competition, but now, with their game against the Pumas next weekend in jeopardy (because of Covid issues in the Pumas team), a nervous wait lies ahead for them.
There is still a mathematical chance one of the other teams in the Unlocked competition could catch them atop the standings, but with the prospect of the Pumas match being rescheduled, the Bulls could have one hand on the trophy.
Not many people outside Pretoria would have predicted the Bulls to be so dominant in the competition, although there was always a belief that former Springbok coach Jake White would turn the team around.
But nobody believed it would happen almost overnight, especially after the Bulls opened their campaign with a struggling win over Griquas at Loftus, followed by a narrow defeat to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
But then two dominant performances followed; a beating of the Sharks (41-14) and an annihilation of the Stormers (39-6 in 65 minutes before the game 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 demolition jobs of the Sharks and the Stormers were particularly impressive because they came against the two teams who were on top of their games in the Super Rugby competition proper before it was stalled in mid-March.
Fast forward to now and the Sharks and Stormers are performing well, but they’re not up to the standard the Bulls have maintained recently.
One can’t deny the Bulls their moment in the sun. White has always talked a good game and he’s pretty much always delivered, and that is the case now, too. He has transformed the Pretoria-based team in almost record time and made Sevens stars like Stedman Gans and Kurt-Lee Arendse regular rugby stars, too.
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 Unlocked points in the bag, and momentum and confidence growing, they will surely be the favourites to win the Currie Cup title, too, in the coming months.
Rudolph Jacobs
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