Bulls over the hardest hurdle, but must finish strong

The Bulls are nearing the end of their run-in to the United Rugby Championship play-offs and, despite having an easier path than the other South African teams, will still want to finish strong.

A seven-match losing streak in the early season made the three-time finalists’ job harder this time round.

But they rallied under Johan Ackermann, in his first season in charge, and after a coaching shake-up absorbed the pressure to build belief.

They held onto their number eight position for weeks, until finally after two wins in Wales they moved up to seventh.

Now just four points off Leinster in fourth and seven points off the Stormers in first-place, the Bulls have the chance not just to qualify for the quarter-finals, but to also put themselves in a position to host one.

Especially with home matches against bottom-ranked Zebre Parma and 13th-placed Benetton left.

Top sides to lose points

To reach the top four, the Bulls will need some of the teams above them to slip up. But among the remaining fixtures, the Lions (third) face Leinster (four) and Munster (five), the Stormers (one) play Cardiff (six), and Glasgow (two) host Cardiff.

That means teams in the top eight will be losing points over the next two weeks, while it is expected that the Bulls will earn a full complement of points.

Benetton could be tricky, as seen by their win over Leinster two weeks ago. But Leinster had one eye on the Champions Cup, where they are due to play a final, and Benetton are normally mediocre away from home.

The Bulls also have a solid record against them, winning the last five URC contests since their Pro 14 final in Treviso in 2021.

Bulls have never lost to Zebre

Zebre are on a three-game losing streak across all competitions, and have lost their last 13 matches in the URC.

They have not won a match in the tournament since their two wins against Edinburgh and the Lions in the first two rounds, both at home six months ago.

They last beat Pau 31-15 at home in the Challenge Cup round of 16 a month ago.

Their last three defeats have been tight, however. They fell 35-25 to Dragons in the Challenge Cup quarter-final in Italy, and lost 31-30 to Edinburgh in Scotland and 19-18 to Dragons in Italy.

Head to head, the Bulls have won all four previous URC matches between the sides, including last year’s contest 63-24 at Loftus. They have not beaten Zebre by anything less than 35 points.