Camaraderie and competitiveness drive Bulls to second in the URC

A third win in a row for the Bulls has seen them stampede up to second position on the United Rugby Championship log, helped by an upset in Italy.

A strong all-round performance saw the Bulls crush Cardiff 45–21 in their second last league phase match to overtake Glasgow Warriors, who had a surprise 33–7 defeat against Benetton at Stadio Monigo.

The Bulls now lie four points ahead of Glasgow. With Leinster out of reach and the Bulls’ final game at home against Dragons, who have only won one match this season, things are unlikely to change. This, especially as Glasgow must travel to Leinster for their final game.

That means the Bulls will almost certainly play a home semi-final should they progress passed their quarter-final at the end of the month.

‘We need to build on this’

Bulls winger Sebastian de Klerk played brilliantly to earn man of the match against Cardiff, finding gaps at ease, proving too good under the highball and pouncing at the merest whiff of opportunity as he scored two tries.

“We won a good win this afternoon. We need to build on this. Hopefully we can carry it into next week as well,” the 25-year-old said.

Speaking of the confidence in the Bulls camp amid their great run of form (six wins from their last seven games) and the camaraderie boosted by a history-making tour in Europe, De Klerk said their team spirit was at an all-time high.

“We are working hard for the whole unit, for our wives, for our families, everyone. We are trying to do it for them, make them proud.”

De Klerk said there is competition for places, but players are not working against each other. “It’s a great environment, we are pushing each other. It’s not a jealousy type of competition, so that’s brilliant in our team.”

Bulls boss tells players to enjoy the game

Bulls director of rugby Jake White was especially pleased with the home win, as the Bulls have struggled at Loftus this season.

“One of my messages to the players was that they must enjoy [the game],” White said. “We must enjoy the fact that we’ve done well enough to give ourselves the chance to get a home semi although we need to win a quarter-final first.”

The only blemish on the Cardiff game was that flyhalf Johan Goosen suffered another knee injury and had to be carted off the field. This is after missing about three months of rugby this season for an earlier knee injury.