The Bulls have played Munster at Thomond Park only twice - losing by 14 points and then winning by three.
The Bulls won their last three contests against Munster, including last season’s quarter-final. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The Bulls are hoping to win their fourth match in a row against Munster, and round off a successful short tour of Europe at the start of this season’s United Rugby Championship (URC), when they take on the 2022/23 winners in Limerick on Saturday (kick-off 8.45pm).
Coming from a seven-try 47-13 win against Zebre in Parma, the Bulls sit pretty at the top of the URC table going into round two.
But they know their opponents are stronger than the Italian team they faced last week, with coach Johan Ackermann warning the Irish side would punish them in areas they were poor in, such as scrums.
The Bulls do, however, take confidence from their strong lineouts and resilient defence against Zebre. New flyhalf Curwin Bosch also had a great game.
Third clash at Thomond Park
The Bulls hold a 4-2 win record against Munster, but have played against them at Thomond Park only twice. They lost 31-17 in 2022 and won 16-13 in 2025.
Their last three victorious encounters include two contests last season, with the Bulls winning 34-31 in the regular season at Loftus, and 45-14 in the quarter-finals, also at Loftus.
Lock Reinhardt Ludwig said that play-off in May was “a long time ago”, and the teams and conditions would be very different this time.
Saturday’s clash would likely play out at a rainy, noisy small venue (Thomond Park’s capacity is just over 25,000 – half that of Loftus Versfeld), with a passionate Irish crowd yelling “in your ear”.
Munster will certainly be hurting from their 26-20 home defeat to Glasgow Warriors and want to bounce back in a big way against the finalists of the previous three seasons.
Bulls need to be more consistent against Munster
Ludwig said they took a “lot of confidence” from their Zebre win.
“To win by 34 points, away, you’ll always take it. We don’t take it for granted,” he said.
“We sometimes scrummed well, sometimes we struggled. But against a quality side like Munster… the biggest learning from us was to be more consistent against Munster.
“Do what you do well, keep with it. But regarding the scrums and stuff, we’ll have to be more consistent.”
The lock said it was tough to lose tighthead prop Mornay Smith after his ankle injury, and Khutha Mchunu and 21-year-old Jean Erasmus – who was flown over to Ireland as an injury replacement – would have to step up.
