Coach Nollis Marais and his team should be pleased that they start out against one of the weaker Kiwi teams, but that is problematic in itself – if the Bulls don’t win, where will it leave them for following games?
The Bulls’ start to the season has been inauspicious and maybe they didn’t show the Sunwolves enough respect last week.
The Blues have struggled but they were very good until they blew a quite predictable gasket against the tournament comeback kings, the Crusaders, in Christchurch last week. If the Blues play like they did in the first half of that game, the Bulls won’t stand much chance.
It is a big game for the Bulls as defeat would leave them listing even further behind the Stormers in their conference, with the Cape team unlikely to make the same mistake of underestimating the Sunwolves in Singapore like they did in 2016.
The big local shootout this weekend happens in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon between two teams, the Cheetahs and Sharks, who really need to up their game on their most recent efforts.
The Cheetahs, like the Bulls, need to try and keep pace with the Stormers, who have taken a weakened team to Singapore but should still prevail.
