Bulls head coach Jake White is looking at the positives of facing the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-finals as his side ‘know what to expect’.
White’s side face arch-rivals the Stormers in another intriguing edition of the north-south derby as the URC enters its knockout stage.
The two teams’ last meeting in a play0off match was last season’s final, when the Capetonians triumphed over the Bulls in a tight encounter. Since then, the Stormers have beaten the Pretoria outfit twice this season.
Happy to be in the play-offs
Nevertheless, the World Cup-winning coach chose to look at the bright side and admits his team is just happy to be in the play-offs after a poor run of form in the middle of their campaign.
“Another positive is that last year, the Stormers were champions, and we get to play against the champions,” White said.
“The other positives are we know what to expect. We’ve played the Stormers so many times as well. So it’s not a case of who you’d like to play. We are just happy that we made the play-offs.
“We didn’t afford ourselves the luxury during the year to get a home semi or quarter-final. We didn’t afford ourselves the luxury that Leinster did at the backend of the competition to play different teams because they won the log.”
Different fortunes
The two rivals come into the clash in different spaces, with the Stormers experiencing a wobble in form that saw their impressive home win streak come to an end against Munster a fortnight ago. The champions did recover with a victory over Benetton in the final round, however.
The Bulls, on the other hand, had a late surge, finishing the regular season with two massive wins, including handing Leinster their record defeat last weekend. The form has White confident his side can take on any team.
“The style we are using is one that can beat any team that we play against,” he said.
The quarter-final will take place at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on May 6, with the latest instalment of the north-south derby set to be another blockbuster.