The Bulls will remain in third position on the United Rugby Championship log even if they were to lose to the Stormers on Saturday – but there’s no way Jake White can handle another defeat to the Cape side.
No one will forget the ‘seven long defeats’ in a row suffered by White’s side against the Stormers, and the tables have turned as it is the Bulls who have now won two in a row against John Dobson’s outfit.
However, it was a close-run affair at the Cape Town Stadium a few weeks ago, where a late conversion miss by Clayton Blommetjies brought great relief to White as his team ran out 33-32 winners.
“It’s not do or die. I want to beat the Stormers. I can’t have the media writing another seven years of whatever!” White said on Friday after naming his team for the big clash.
“We could finish second or third on the log and not win the conference, but I don’t want to lose sleep tonight because it’s all or nothing – it’s not.
“Sometimes the momentum goes for you and others not. It all goes in cycles. I’m not saying their cycle is turning, but they were significantly higher up on the log over the last three years.
“But that doesn’t mean that it’s doom and gloom. In the first season, we were second or third-last, and we ended up playing in the final.
“Last year this time, the Sharks were last, and now they’re fourth.
“So, I want to beat them (the Stormers) because we all want to win. We want to make sure that we play as well as we can.”
White made just one change to his starting line-up from last week’s 31-19 win over the Lions, with Nizaam Carr elevated to the No 8 jersey in place of Mpilo Gumede.
“I just wanted fresh legs. Mpilo hurt his toe a bit last week, so I just wanted to give Nizaam a bit of a start as well,” White said.
“He knows the Stormers too, so I’ve got a feeling that he will probably put in a little bit extra as well.
“And then, I’m expecting rain. So, to have a heavy pack at the end – Ruan Vermaak, Mpilo is a bit heavier. It’s just an idea that I have is that if it’s going to go into the mud... A heavy pack at the end might help us.
“I have almost the same 23 for two weeks in a row, and it’s not a bad place to be after three rounds of derby games.”
White added that star No 8 Cameron Hanekom (calf) and flank Marcell Coetzee (concussion) should return for the massive URC clash against Leinster in Pretoria on March 22.
“He’ll be back for our next game. I’ve said before that his point of difference is his explosiveness and speed, and for an athlete to have a tight calf muscle is probably a red flag for us,” the Bulls director of rugby said.
“It’s not one of those things that you just strap up and run, as you don’t want him to tear it, as then he’ll be out for a long time. I’m fully sure that by Leinster, he’ll be ready to play.
“Marcell will also be ready for Leinster. It’s an HIA thing, and as long as he’s not feeling 100 percent or gets headaches, those are the signs that the medical staff are not happy to put him on the field.”
Bulls Team
15 Devon Williams 14 Sebastian de Klerk 13 Stedman Gans 12 David Kriel 11 Canan Moodie 10 Willie le Roux 9 Embrose Papier 8 Nizaam Carr 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain) 6 Marco van Staden 5 JF van Heerden 4 Cobus Wiese 3 Wilco Louw 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Akker van der Merwe 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 18 Francois Klopper 19 Ruan Vermaak 20 Mpilo Gumede 21 Zak Burger 22 Keagan Johannes 23 Sergeal Petersen.
Stormers Team
15 Warrick Gelant 14 Ben Loader 13 Wandisile Simelane 12 Dan du Plessis 11 Leolin Zas 10 Jurie Matthee 9 Stefan Ungerer 8 Evan Roos 7 Ben-Jason Dixon 6 Deon Fourie 5 Ruben van Heerden 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain) 3 Neethling Fouché 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Ali Vermaak.
Bench: 16 André-Hugo Venter 17 Brok Harris 18 Frans Malherbe 19 Gary Porter 20 Marcel Theunissen 21 Willie Engelbrecht 22 Paul de Wet 23 Jonathan Roche.