PRETORIA – Languishing in last place on the Currie Cup log, the Blue Bulls will have their backs to the wall when they face the Pumas in Nelspruit tomorrow (7.15pm kick-off).
Back-to-back defeats in the truncated competition have placed the Light Blues in a desperate position where they have to beat a gritty Pumas side to keep their campaign alive.
The Pumas are in an equally precarious position in sixth place and will be hard to beat at home.
The Bulls suffered comprehensive defeats to Western Province in Cape Town and a rampant Free State Cheetahs side at home in Pretoria.
In both games, the Bulls’ set-piece was exposed.
To add insult to injury, the Pretoria side have lost captain Burger Odendaal, who injured his quad muscle against WP and will be sidelined for between four and six weeks.
Rosko Specman of the Blue Bulls scores his try during the 2019 Currie Cup Rugby match between Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versveld. Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix
Bulls coach Pote Human was scathing of his players’ attitude in a 43-27 loss to the Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld.
“One-on-one tackles are all about attitude, and there was none of that; the previous week (against WP) we didn’t lose because of a lack of, but tonight there was a lack of effort,” Human said after last Friday's match.
“I expected more but I will take it on myself. We will have to change our mindset, otherwise we will not win a game in this competition.”
The Bulls have four games to turn their campaign around with two home matches against the pace-setting Griquas and the Sharks.
Human said his charges need to get their act together, starting tomorrow, or kiss their hopes of reaching the play-offs goodbye.
“We have to win all four games, and two of them are away from home, against the Pumas in Nelspruit, and they will be waiting for us, then we have the Lions at Ellis Park, which will be difficult,” Human said.
“We will have to turn it around as quickly as possible, but that is my job and I have to do it.”
Benhard Janse van Rensburg of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs scoring his try during the 2019 Currie Cup Rugby match between Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs. Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix
Human warned the players they need to make the step up during the Currie Cup or forget about featuring in next year’s Super Rugby campaign.
“The guys have to stand up and show they belong here. Most of them will be here next year and they will want to play Super Rugby, but if they play like this they can forget about it.”