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Bulls build new momentum

Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town – An extremely useful day at the office has helped power the Bulls, defending Vodacom Super 14 champions, to the top of the table … with three rounds left and some daylight to bask in as well.

The summit is a comforting place to be when you command a five-point lead on the other semi-final aspirants and have a run-in entirely on South African soil, even if only two of those matches will be at Loftus.

And perhaps the best aspect of their 51-11 thumping of the Lions in the Highveld derby in a damp Pretoria on Saturday was the opportunity it presented for the title-holders to rediscover some rhythm after an iffy spell abroad – especially in the second half which they effectively won 39-3 after the visitors had offered stout resistance in the first period.

Limited to four Morne Steyn penalties before the break - and the four-try bonus point thus looking an elusive beast - the Bulls lifted the tempo most impressively to cross the whitewash no fewer than six times, including three tries in the last six minutes.

The pack clicked into best form to set up quality real estate and, with Wynand Olivier massively industrious in midfield and Gerhard van den Heever showing lovely, twinkle-toed finishing skills out wide, it could probably be said that the Bulls brushed off some lethargy evident in the defeat last week to the Reds in Brisbane.

They also did their “for and against” no harm at all through the 40-point margin of triumph, which lifted them to plus-106 overall.

So now they will have to slip up somewhere quite badly if they are to surrender the initiative on the table.

Indeed, wins against both the Sharks (next up) and then Crusaders, both at Loftus, and even without bonus points, could well mean that the Bulls are guaranteed top position even before the particularly perilous visit to Cape Town to play the Stormers in the very last encounter of the league programme.

That environment would enable them the luxury of doing some handy “rotation” should some of their players require a spot of feet-up before the knockout phase – although it might take some persuasion from Frans Ludeke to get key men to miss what shapes up as a seismic north-south meeting.

A little bit of “clutter” on the upper rungs of the log appears to be clearing: the Bulls boast 39 points, then the Stormers, Crusaders and Reds sit on 34 – separated only by points differential – and the Waratahs lie fifth with 33.

There is a bit of a gap developing after that, to the Brumbies and Hurricanes on 27, although those two will keep plugging away in hope.

Be wary of the Waratahs: although both fixtures are away, their next two are against New Zealand teams who are pretty much out of contention – the Highlanders (definitely also-rans) and Chiefs.

Technically, the Sharks remain in with a shout after seeing off the Blues 23-10 at Absa Stadium on Saturday, in a performance impressive for its muscularity if not its panache.

But their failure to bank a bonus point as well has actually only made their outside semis chance that much more remote: they can only reach a maximum of 40 points if they earn unlikely full houses against the Bulls, Stormers and finally Western Force.

Still, they have put their early-season nightmare rather well behind them and pride, at the very least, should keep them “amped” for the remainder of the calendar.

Remaining games for top five sides, after 10 games each:

Bulls (39 points): Sharks (h), Crusaders (h), Stormers (a)
Stormers (34 points): Crusaders (h), Sharks (a), Bulls (h)
Crusaders (34 points): Stormers (a), Bulls (a), Brumbies (h)
Reds (34 points): Brumbies (a), Hurricanes (a), Highlanders (h)
Waratahs (33 points): Highlanders (a), Chiefs (a), Hurricanes (h)
 
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