Bulls poised to take a big step

Victory over the Cell C Sharks at Loftus might start to confirm what many must now surely be suspecting - this could be the year that the Vodacom Bulls rise from the ashes to become credible challengers for the Super Rugby honours once more.

Yes, it is a home game, but the Bulls showed last week in beating the Lions that they can win away. Okay, so Emirates Airline Park is only 60 kilometres away from their home base, but the record books will confirm what a difficult venue it has been for the Bulls in recent years. They comprehensively buried that bogey last weekend.

Their next step could be a big one. In picking up two wins in three, the Bulls have shown promise, and their performances have shown an impressive mix of the base built by last year's coach John Mitchell and some crucial additions from new coach Pote Human, who worked as Mitchell's assistant before.

But while the Bulls have looked formidable on South African soil, the disappointingly error-ridden defeat to the Jaguares wedged between the wins over the Stormers and the Lions has left enough questions still hanging in the air. There is pressure on the Bulls on Saturday in the sense that they need to bury any inconsistency and this is definitely a game they should expect to win if they are to be realistic challengers.

In a sense you can say it is positive pressure for the Bulls. This is their chance to take early control of the conference race, to properly establish themselves as the local team to beat.

Conversely, for the Lions the round brings the negative pressure that is exerted on a team that is at the crossroads and which has to win in order to avert a possible sharpening in the downward spiral. Ditto the Sharks. Both those teams need to respond this weekend or they could be in trouble going forward.

It is too early for the Lions to be written off. They have been written often before, and it has happened often before too - teams come back from bad starts in Super Rugby to win the competition. The Crusaders used to make a habit of it. But there was enough justification for the loud clanging of alarm bells when they lost to the Bulls, and they will reach a crescendo if they drop points at home to the Jaguares.

Until the opening round of this year’s competition the Lions struggled away against the Jaguares, but they have been solid against the Argentinians at home. A defeat on Saturday should then be enough to start a crescendo of alarm bells and introduce real pressure on the team that have dominated the South African conference for the last three years.

For the Sharks there is slightly less pressure in the sense that they are travelling away this week. They’ve lost once in three games but they have picked up enough bonus points (three) to almost make up an extra win. Like the Bulls they have a bye next week and then return to host the Chiefs before hosting the return match against the Bulls the following week.

But where the pressure comes in for the Sharks is that the Stormers did expose several vulnerabilities. Fronted at forward for the first time this season, the Sharks looked rattled and bereft of any idea on how to turn the momentum around. At least that was in the first half. In the second half they were better. You fancy they will have to be considerably better to live with a Bulls team that could just start turning Loftus back into the fortress it was for them at the start of this decade.

Away from South Africa the competition remains intriguing, with the Crusaders the only team unbeaten after three games (the Rebels are also unbeaten but have only played twice). The Crusaders should be expected to easily deal with the Chiefs, who are the one team you can definitely say at this early stage are heading towards crisis.

It is interesting to note though that the Crusaders are still a long way from full strength, and this week they will be fielding two debutants, one of them former Waikato wing Sevu Reece. Hooker Codie Taylor is back, but only on the bench.

The Rebels host the Brumbies, who they beat when they hosted them in the first game, and should be backed to score the win that will enable them to take a firm grip on their conference log. The Waratahs, playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground this week, will be looking to stay in touch by beating their arch rivals, the Reds. The Reds have come close against good opponents over the past two weekends so shouldn’t be written off.

WEEKEND PREVIEWS AND PREDICTIONS

South African Conference

Emirates Lions v Jaguares (Johannesburg, Saturday 3.05pm)

The Lions beat the Jaguares in the first round game in Buenos Aires and should be expected to repeat the dose and in so doing regain a bit of their missing mojo.

There are no prizes for guessing where the biggest improvement is needed by the Lions. Although they are known for their all-embracing attacking game, their pack has been a crucial pillar to their conference successes in the past three seasons. But last week the big men were abject against the Bulls, who dismantled them. Word from Jo'burg is that there have been signs that the Lions have been feeling the pressure this week, perhaps taking on a bit of a laager mentality.

Historically that has often translated into a backlash. Lions fans will be hoping that it does so again. Punters should expect it to.

Prediction: Lions by 9

Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks (Pretoria, Saturday 5.15pm)

The Sharks have made five changes to their starting team for what most would consider a crucial game and it was interesting to hear coach Robert du Preez’s justification for some of them. He said he had always promised to rotate and that this week was a good time to do it.

Why it’s interesting is because when coaches say that, it is usually an indication that it is either a game they expect to win easily regardless of the make-up of their team, or it is a game they expect to lose anyway. Hurricanes coach John Plumtree appeared to adopt that approach in his team’s recent away trip to the Crusaders.

Certainly the omission of Ruan Botha from the Sharks engine-room appears an odd decision, and so possibly does the absence of a fit-again Curwin Bosch at fullback. Aphelele Fassi is injured so Rhyno Smith starts at 15.

The Sharks’ biggest challenge will be to blunt the Bulls pack in their quest to prevent the hosts from executing the kicking game that was so devastating in their last home game against the Stormers.

The Sharks didn’t handle the Stormers’ tactics of kicking the ball behind their advancing defence at all well last week so big improvements are necessary at a venue where, as the Stormers learnt, the score can get ugly if you aren’t on point.

Prediction: Bulls by 12

Australasian Conferences

Hurricanes v Highlanders (Wellington, Friday 8:45am)

Prediction: Hurricanes by 8

Rebels v Brumbies (Melbourne, Friday 10:45am)

Prediction: Rebels by less than 7

Crusaders v Chiefs (Christchurch, Saturday 6:15am)

Prediction: Crusaders by 15

Blues v Sunwolves (North Habour, Saturday 8:35am)

Prediction: Blues by 15 to 20

Waratahs v Reds (Sydney, Saturday 10:45am)

Prediction: Waratahs by 7