Cape Town — The Stormers are expecting an emotionally-charged Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, but that is exactly why coach John Dobson feels his side cannot afford to drop their “mental intensity”.
The Capetonians have pulled off four consecutive victories over Jake White’s side in the United Rugby Championship (URC) — including the 18-13 triumph in the final last June — but that doesn’t mean that they will have an easy time of it in Pretoria this weekend (5.05pm kick-off).
The return of Bulls boss Jake White from an operation will add to the energy that the Bulls will play with, and being back at home in front of what is likely to be a 40 000-strong crowd at their home ground — after playing six out of their last seven matches away — will provide further inspiration.
The Stormers, though, are a proud bunch, and despite being without captain Steven Kitshoff and other Springboks such as Frans Malherbe, Marvin Orie and Damian Willemse, they are aiming to produce a mighty effort to emerge victorious again on Saturday.
“It is a given that we must match the intensity of our great rivals up north, and we must match it from the outset. This comes through attitude. We must make our tackles, and we must play with accuracy and intelligence. When playing at altitude, game management is always definitive to getting a positive result,” Dobson wrote in his ‘Dobbo’s Diary’ column on the Stormers website on Thursday.
“We are known for a particular style, which involves playing the game at pace, upping the pace, and never being afraid of taking the ball from one end of the field to the other from phase play or on the counter-attack.
“But the very good teams don’t just play ‘off the cuff’ or rely on individual moments of genius, or a fortuitous bounce of the ball. They play with rugby intelligence that matches the intensity.
“We must be intelligent when we have the ball and desperate to scramble if needs be on defence. We’ve shown those defensive qualities throughout the past season-and-a-half, despite being labelled as an all-out attacking team.
“It is a league match, but any time you go to Loftus, you have to be switched on mentally as if it is a play-off match. You drop that mental intensity, and you will get punished.”
The Stormers are flying high in second position on the URC log, having trounced the Sharks 46-19 in Durban a few weeks ago, and a victory over the Bulls should secure them a home quarter-final at the very least.
But they will know that Ruan Nortjé’s Bulls will be desperate to end the Cape side’s stranglehold in front of a boisterous Loftus crowd.
“Personally, and this is meant with no disrespect to any other South African franchise, but it doesn’t get bigger as an occasion than visiting Loftus and playing a Bulls team that will be charged emotionally and motivated to giving Jake (White) the warmest of returns, after his recent absence recovering from surgery,” Dobson said.
“We did the league double over them last season, away and then at home, and edged them in the final. Those were three incredibly close matches, and there was a one score difference on all three occasions.
“This season we won at home in front of 30 000-plus on 23 December (in the 37-27 win over the Bulls).
“It was a fantastic match, and it broke new ground mentally for both groups of players as we had never played a league match at that time of the year.
“To get a crowd in excess of 30 000 was a compliment to us and the quality of the opposition.
“I believe there could be a crowd of 40 000 at Loftus on Saturday, and that by midweek, they’d sold close to 35 000 tickets. It gives me goose-bumps thinking of the crowd, the environment and the occasion.
“We have prepared well this week, and there has been an off-field excitement that will translate to on-field intensity.
“Our boys understand the rivalry, respect it and want to honour this derby with a win.”
Both Dobson and White will name their teams on Friday.
IOL Sport