Emotion won't get to us - Pollard

Vodacom Bulls captain Handre Pollard believes that the emotion of this coming weekend’s farewells will not count against his team as they look for their playoff spot in their Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Emirates Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

Both sides need a victory to automatically secure a playoff spot, and both will know where they stand when they take the field as the last game of the round, but the weight of emotion around the team saying goodbye to a number of stalwarts who will play their last home game may well be a stumbling block in the performance.

Not so says Pollard, who believes while it was always going to be a sad moment, many of his fellow teammates have prepared for it for the entire season.

RG Snyman, Duane Vermeulen, Pollard, Hanro Liebenberg, Jason Jenkins will all give their last performances for the Bulls while a number of others – such as Jesse Kriel and Lood de Jager won’t play in this game but seem to have already played their last games for the Bulls at Loftus.

“It’s going to be a bit of an emotional day for all of us. Although we are still young it was quite an era, the last four or five years with the guys coming through. But it is what it is, we have almost looked at this whole season that way. Most of us knew it was going to be our last one and we’ve enjoyed every moment of it,” he said.

“Saturday won’t be any different we will go out and enjoy ourselves and hopefully go away from Loftus on a great note and give the fans one great win again.”

Pollard’s comments that most of the players knew it was their last season does raise an eyebrow or two about the futility of the negotiation process as the Bulls tried desperately to keep the players in South Africa, but it is realistic.

The captain believes that the two draws the team picked up in New Zealand has buoyed them and they would be ready for whatever comes next.

“It was unbelievable. We went on tour and we were realistic, and told ourselves we wouldn’t win every game on tour. But in that realism if we picked up eight points on tour, then we would be in a good place. We got the points in a different way. It was unbelievable. I still messaged the coach after the Blues game and said it was a great fightback. Those two points could mean a lot to us and the same last week. Those points, if we didn’t have them, our outlook would have been a lot different. It wasn’t pretty but two draws in New Zealand is great.

Pollard said he was looking forward to “some more fun” against Elton Jantjies as the two Bok pivots will go head to head at some point in the game in another chapter of their ongoing battle.

“It’s always a good challenge and always gets the juices flowing, that direct challenge. We both have a lot of respect for each other and we both are different players. Every time in any position when guys face each other and compete for Springbok spots it is always a bit of a scuffle. It should be good fun going for 80 against Elton again, for old times sake.”

The Lions are set to only name their team on Friday, less than the required 48 hours before the game as per Sanzaar rules.