Pretoria – To say that the Blue Bulls players have had little sleep and are being haunted by the 62-23 mauling at the hands of the Golden Lions would be an exaggeration, but it will certainly play a part in what will transpire on the field at Ellis Park in Saturday’s Jukskei River Currie Cup derby.
It was the Lions who inflicted the heaviest loss on any team in this year’s Currie Cup competition when they embarrassed the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld three weeks ago and as much as tomorrow’s outing will be a do-or-die battle for both teams to try and earn themselves a place in the semi-finals, it will be a grudge match too.
The Bulls this week went on a charm offensive, speaking more about their lowly fifth spot on the log and how they are desperate to turn their fortunes around in the competition.
There was no talk of revenge, nor of any sleepless nights being suffered by the players because of that fateful day at Loftus.
Instead Blue Bulls captain Jono Ross elevated this Gauteng derby into a final, speaking of how his team would have to win all of their remaining matches if they were to indeed make the semi-finals.
If truth be told, the Bulls do find themselves in a dire situation. As much as they have plausible excuses, in that they have the youngest and most inexperienced team in the competition, for a union of their size and history, nothing short of the semi-finals would be acceptable in the eyes of their supporters and employers.
“We take it week by week. I wouldn’t say we have forgotten that; we know exactly what happened. But it is a new week and we are preparing like we would for any other game. We won’t let what has happened in the past worry us.
“We have four games left, starting this weekend. We’ve got to go out there and win – it is a must win for us. It’s a final this weekend and I wouldn’t say we are too worried about what happened in the past,” Ross said this week.
It only makes sense that the Bulls should not get caught up in the emotions of the day and the sweetest revenge for them would be to focus on leaving Ellis Park with a full house of points which could see them catapult the Lions into fourth place.
Bulls coach Pine Pienaar has had little time to talk about sentiment, revenge and how this derby compares to the others the Bulls often get involved in. Instead, he emphasised the need for his team to stick to their plan and execute it with accuracy.
“I mean there are four games left and this game for us this weekend is very important. We are five points behind the Lions who are lying fourth at the moment. To keep our hopes alive for the semifinals, we have to go out and win this weekend. Mathematically you can still maybe make it, but it is not up to you. You start hoping that this side loses to the other and you are not in the race by yourself. We’ve got to make sure that we are spot-on with what we want to do and what we plan for,” said Pienaar
Pienaar has no doubt in his mind that his team can do the turn-around that is required of them and go on to make something special out of a season that nothing was expected of his players.
As much as success is only predicted to come for Pienaar and his team of youngsters in the future, Pienaar is hopeful that victory against the Lions could be the beginning of that success.
“It’s been a difficult season but I believe in this side and these players. They are really a special bunch of players. They will make the supporters proud in the future and I hope it is this year. What we are busy with makes me excited. I hope we can go out this weekend and play the rugby that I know we can.
“A lot of these players have been in a situation where they have to fight themselves out of a hole and hopefully it can be this weekend,” said Pienaar.
Pretoria News