Let’s get this out of the way at the outset before we take a proper look at the South African chances in this weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinals - the DHL Stormers are up against it.
The Bulls should keep their unbeaten record in home playoff games - spread across Loftus and Orlando Stadium - in international competitions intact. It is whether the Stormers can conquer a team that has a similarly good home record to the one boasted by the Bulls this season that is the question mark.
The Stormers did their planning beforehand, but as Dobson said last Saturday night when his quarterfinal destination was still in doubt, you can’t book your flights until you know. The Sharks won twice in Australia but there were never any wins in New Zealand due to the additional obstacle that comes into play in trips from South Africa to Australasia - jetlag. There isn’t much travel across time zones in the URC, which means there isn’t jetlag, and that makes the competition fairer.As Dobson said, the Stormers are also used to the logistical challenges they faced this week.
Munster hit some off notes in the first half of their game against Ulster last weekend and looked in serious danger of losing when they trailed by 10 points at halftime. As the commentators said, it was very out of character in comparison with what had gone before on an eight match unbeaten run. Could that have been a sign of nerves as the sharp end of the season arrives? Their opponents will hope so, and there is some truth in that old saying “Uneasy is the head that wears the crown”.
Canan Moodie will be missing for the Bulls as will Marco van Staden, but the Bulls’ power game should be way too strong for the visitors. It should be a closer game than the 56-35 result in favour of the Bulls in May, with Benetton treating this as a one off rather than the second game of a tour where they’d already hit target by beating the Sharks, which was the case last time.
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