The Bulls will host the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in a clash between the two top South African teams in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday. This match marks the resumption of a great rivalry.
The Bulls arrested a poor run of form and have now won their last three games. Meanwhile, the Sharks have been in inconsistent form but won 20-17 when these teams faced off in December.
Bulls’ High Hopes For Home URC Clash
The Bulls will have the advantage of altitude this time. Loftus Versfeld is 1,350 metres above sea level, while the Sharks’ Kings Park is at sea level. Therefore, a home fixture against the Sharks is a very different proposition for the Bulls to an away fixture.
“It’s not revenge, but it’s making sure we don’t miss an opportunity,” Bulls head coach Jake White said, as per News24.
“We had a chance to win that game, but we had one defensive mishap, from where we conceded a penalty try and a yellow card.
“We also gave them three points in front of the posts when we didn’t fall on the ball, so it’s one of those games that we realised we should have won.
“That’s sport, so we’ll have another crack at home and it’s a must-win for us because we want to win the conference.
“We have to win our home games now, which come in the form of three big derbies.”
Jake White’s History With The Sharks
Adding extra fuel to the fire for this one, Jake White used to be the director of rugby at the Sharks. Under his tenure, they made the semi-finals of Super Rugby 2014, but according to Sharks legend Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, he did not enjoy a healthy relationship with the players.
Mtawarira wrote in his autobiography, Beast (Tendai Mtawarira, with Andy Capostagno), that White was a hard taskmaster who banned alcohol, had the players working from 7 AM to 6 PM, and drew too much on his previous stint in charge of the Brumbies.
“Jake introduced all these theories from the Brumbies. Everything he said to us was about the Brumbies and even our plays on the field were from the Brumbies. The funniest thing was that when we played the Brumbies that season they would call the same play as us!,” wrote Mtawarira.
“We were dumbfounded. It seemed like everything Jake said to us would include the line, ‘At the Brumbies we used to…’ He would show us clips of their training, reviews of their games, whatever, and the boys would be fed up. ‘We don’t want to watch the Brumbies,’ they would say ‘we’re better than them’.”
Easybet Odds
The Bulls (1.27) are heavy favourites due in large part to their home advantage according to the odds on Easybet. Meanwhile, the Sharks (3.85) are underdogs but a team that has proven very difficult to predict. A draw (23.00) is unlikely but worth considering in this of all fixtures.
