The Bulls have pushed themselves to play an exciting attacking style during the Jake White era, but may have to again rein themselves in for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Connacht in Galway (7.30pm start).
It has been a tough old slog for the Pretoria side this season, with three out of their five matches so far being up north, and with their next two weeks also being on the road.
The Connacht encounter will be followed by their Champions Cup opener against Saracens in London on December 7, and then they travel back home to finish the year against Northampton at Loftus Versfeld and the Sharks in Durban.
Their schedule resulted in their Springboks having to be away from home for two more weeks, after the 45-12 win over Wales in Cardiff last Saturday – as the Bulls squad arrived in Galway on Monday.
Apart from the 47-21 victory over Ulster in round two, the Bulls have had to grind out their four wins from five games: 22-16 against Edinburgh (home), 29-19 against the Ospreys (away), 23-22 loss to the Scarlets in Llanelli, and the 17-15 triumph over Benetton in Treviso on October 25.
Now they face extreme cold in Galway this week, with four degrees Celcius forecast for the Irish city yesterday, and rain is set to make life difficult for the rest of the build-up and on match-day.
They also won’t have Bok star Kurt-Lee Arendse as he has joined Japanese club Mitsubishi Dynaboars until May, while locks Ruan Nortjé and Reinhardt Ludwig are injured.
😮💨😮💨😮💨 pic.twitter.com/ShH2yEO9GS
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) November 27, 2024
But at least Connacht are also missing stalwarts such as Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham and Cian Prendergast, who are part of the Ireland squad for Saturday’s Test against Australia in Dublin.
The Bulls, though, have the rest of their Bok contingent back – Canan Moodie, Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom, Marco van Staden, Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar and Gerhard Steenekamp – as well as fit-again flyhalf Johan Goosen.
Utility forward Cobus Wiese said from Galway this week that youngster JF van Heerden will run the lineouts this weekend, and is confident that the visitors can roll up their sleeves once more on the 4G pitch at Dexcom Stadium.
Our Springboks are back in blue this weekend against Connacht & we couldn't be more excited 🏆🐂💙
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) November 28, 2024
*From inside the camp yesterday 👀 #ForeverBlue pic.twitter.com/1dta0FWXyn
When asked by Independent Newspapers if the Bulls will look to maul a bit more and keep things tighter than usual, Wiese giggled: “It almost sounds like you’ve been in the team meeting! It’s exactly that. We have to right to go wide, and that means doing it time and time again. If you dominate them, then you will get the opportunities out wide.
“But first things first: you have to go through them to go around them. We are going to have to tighten up, and stay in the fight for 80 minutes.
“We have been building some depth in the squad, and JF van Heerden will start at five this weekend, and he will be taking charge of the lineout.
‼️TOURING SQUAD‼️
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) November 26, 2024
YOUR squad to face Connacht in the @Vodacom #URC clash this weekend & Saracens in the @ChampionsCup on the 7th of December 🏆🐂#ForeverBlue pic.twitter.com/iy9rr4mWbY
“I’m not too worried about it. If we execute our jobs – whether as a lifter or jumper, or the hookers putting the ball on the money – we’ve got exceptional jumpers in the team and good hookers.
“The pitch as well, is a quicker surface, and Connacht is a team that will attack, attack, attack. They will definitely test us defensively, and it’s about our work-rate – time after time – to soften them up, and it’s going to take 80 minutes of effort.”
The 27-year-old Wiese – the younger brother of Bok No 8 Jasper and a former Stormers forward who hails from Upington – is keen to continue making a major contribution to the Bulls’ campaign, having operated at lock and flank.
“In terms of the systems, it’s a bit more of an attacking game, but the detail has been great and I have taken that on board,” said Wiese, who moved to Pretoria from the Sale Sharks this season.
“I think I can still work a bit harder off the ball, when I’m not involved – and that’s something we’ve been working hard on with me.
“A win away from home would be massive. Coach Jake always speaks about an eight-point swing, and if you interpret it like that, work hard and get the win away from home, it might not look like much now – but it will at the end of the season.”