‘Great occasion’: Bulls relish rare opportunity against All Blacks
· Citizen
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann said his team appreciates the significance of their game against the All Blacks on Saturday, with many of his players unlikely to get a second chance to play against the New Zealanders.
The teams clash at Loftus Versfeld at 7pm in the third of four matches between the All Blacks and South Africa’s United Rugby Championship sides, after the visitors beat the Stormers 38-21 and whipped the Sharks 54-0.
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Scrumhalf Embrose Papier is perhaps the only player in the Bulls team who is likely to play for the Springboks against New Zealand in the future, with most of the Springbok contingent training together and veteran fullback Willie le Roux all but out of the national picture now.
Bulls prepare for history
It’s been 30 years since the All Blacks toured South Africa, and the Bulls have only played against the All Blacks four times in history.
The New Zealanders won three of those games, the Bulls winning 29-27 as Northern Transvaal in 1976.
The All Blacks made nine changes to their team following Tuesday’s seven-try thrashing of the Sharks.
Although Ackermann tipped Richie Mo’unga, who joined the squad in the wake of Billy Proctor’s injury, as one of the two best New Zealand flyhalves along with Ruben Love, it will be Josh Jacomb playing at 10 for the first time after his debut against the Stormers.
“We know the All Blacks well. I know [coach] Dave Rennie well,” Ackermann said.
“All his teams play at a high tempo. They like to have every fast scrums and lineouts. They keep the ball alive.
“We also like to play at that tempo. It’s something we’re striving for as a team.”
However, Ackermann said to do that, a team needs a good pre-season to train. The Bulls have not had that, coming back from a three-week break instead of the usual five to train for this game, instead of waiting for the start of the URC in late September.
‘The privilege of facing the All Blacks’
“We are in our fourth week since we came back. It’s [soon] to go into a game… That’s why you could see it [lack of cohesion] in the Stormers and Sharks.
“But it’s still a great privilege to be part of the game, so we have to do it. I’m surprised the Sharks only had four weeks to train because they didn’t play in the URC play-offs. Maybe they gave their players five weeks off.”
He said the All Blacks, by comparison, were match-fit.
“We understand the task ahead of us, and the privilege of facing the All Blacks. They were last here 30 years ago.
“No one knows the future, who will play for the Boks. For some this will be their only chance… And to see the haka. It will be great for them.”