The Bulls secured a one-point win over previously undefeated Leinster that may or may not indicate a change in their fortunes.
Throughout the season Bulls director of rugby Jake White has told the media his team are not where he wants them to be.
He has alluded to the difficulty of having to grow the depth of his squad, the need to rotate his players and still having to win.
After a dismal Champions Cup campaign that saw the Bulls win just one out of four games, the Bulls returned to the United Rugby Championship (URC) in January in a much stronger position even though they had a mixed bag of results.
URC runners-up
The Bulls have now won four of their last six URC games since their Champions Cup exit, with only one of their two losses (29–19 defeat to the Sharks) coming with a noticeable margin.
Their 21–20 victory that ended Leinster’s 12-game winning streak at the weekend was not convincing by any measure and the Bulls had a far from perfect performance, but the win over the table-toppers may give hope to a team that have been runners-up twice in the competition.
It’s true that not all of Leinster’s Irish internationals took to the field on Saturday, while the Bulls were playing at home, and Leinster’s record in South Africa is terrible (one win from seven games before the loss), but their side was probably stronger than it has been in previous tours after the Six Nations.
It included several Irish Test players as well as Springbok star RG Snyman, New Zealand star Jordie Barrett and French international Rabah Slimani.
This core of experience was supplemented with young Irish talent to make a very formidable team.
Going in right direction
Still, the Bulls proved dominant in the lineouts, stealing a number of balls from the Irish giants, and became progressively stronger in the mauls and scrums as the game progressed. By the time the replacements came on, their pack was far and out the better of the two, proved by their scrum turnover that lead to the winning penalty kick.
The maturity shown in how they turned the game around to secure a win – even by just one point – may give Jake White and Bulls fans hope they are going in the right direction.
