Jake White likes to say that he “has been around for a long time” in rugby, and he has seen most of the sport’s “movies”.
And the nightmare series of seven defeats in a row to the Stormers will mean that White and his Bulls side will never think it will be a walkover against the Capetonians.
At the moment, John Dobson’s outfit are down and almost out, having lost four in a row across the Champions Cup and United Rugby Championship, and languishing in 10th position on the URC log after just four wins in 11 games.
In contrast, the Bulls are third with eight victories, and come off a 31-19 triumph over the Lions last weekend after losing to the Sharks before that.
So, on paper, the Pretoria side are absolute favourites for today’s encounter at Loftus Versfeld (5pm kick-off), but they know that the visitors can strike back.
The expected rain forecast for the capital city could also be a leveller.
“One thing the Stormers have done consistently against us is that they have managed to find a way to either win the game, get the game back on track after we’ve been up against them,” White said yesterday after bringing in Nizaam Carr at No 8 for Mpilo Gumede in the only change to the starting XV.
“It’s not a sprint, but a marathon, this tournament. We’ve got to get to the playoffs and be alive, and then hopefully we have guys like Hanekom, Coetzee, Goosen back.
“This game isn’t any different to last week’s Lions game or Sharks before that.
“We want to play at home in the playoffs, but there’s only one team every season who can play at home.
“I’m really not feeling like the world is on my shoulders. The derbies are tough, and the Stormers have their backs to the wall as another loss could see them miss out on the top eight.
“So, I know what’s coming. The Stormers have done well before, and I can’t see that the team talks from the coaches will be any different to what they’ve done over the last couple of seasons.”
The Bulls, though, must be confident of securing their third win in a row over the Stormers. Their pack is absolutely on fire at the moment, dominating the scrums with Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw, and having a ruthless maul from the lineouts and hard work of Cobus Wiese, JF van Heerden and current captain Reinhardt Ludwig.
Carr will be delighted to get a start at No 8 against his home province, and he will want to show the Stormers that they should’ve signed him when he left Wasps.
Willie le Roux seems to have found his groove at flyhalf now after some growing pains, and his ability to find space for the likes of Stedman Gans, Sebastian de Klerk, Canan Moodie and Devon Williams will keep the Stormers defence busy.
White also has a unique plan to deal with the possible rain.
“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,” the coach 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.
“One thing about the Stormers is that they play the same, whether it’s rain or sunshine. Basically, they’ve got something that works for them.
“They like to play that style where they can offload and run out of their own half. We saw that they scored five tries against us the last time, and won from a turnover that was deep in their own half.
“So, I’m not expecting anything different, whether it rains or not. They will still play what’s made them so successful in the last three seasons.”
Captain’s Run at Loftus. #BULvSTO #iamastormer pic.twitter.com/ENGG2Qkvcj
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.