The Bulls' Willie le Roux was at flyhalf in their previous United Rugby Championship match.
Image: Backpagepix
The Bulls are 80 minutes away from securing a home United Rugby Championship quarter-final, with only the most wide-eyed Italian tipping Benetton to win at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon (4pm kick-off).
Benetton boast a host of Italian internationals, but as seen in their performance in Durban last week — where they were hammered by the Sharks — their URC race is run, and it is difficult for them to “get up” in South Africa for what is a dead-rubber game.
Benetton were out of the URC “race to eight” some time ago. On the other hand, the Bulls have everything to play for — a win in this final regular-season match would mean they host a quarter-final on the green grass of home.
Not having to travel to Europe for a play-off is a massive carrot for Marcell Coetzee’s team, which currently sits in fourth place on the URC log. There is also no chance of the Bulls easing off the accelerator, as they want to take momentum into the knockouts.
After a difficult start to the season — at one point they had lost seven consecutive matches across the URC and Champions Cup — they clicked into gear, settled on a game model that works for them, and are now on a hot winning streak.
The Bulls’ only loss in their last nine URC matches was to the Stormers in March. In contrast, Benetton’s only victory in their last four matches was over Leinster in Round 16.
More telling is the Italian team’s record on the road — Benetton’s only away win in the URC since April 2025 was over Zebre in Parma in December last year. However, the Italians have won in South Africa this season, beating the Lions at Ellis Park in the Challenge Cup.
The two sides have met on six occasions, with Benetton’s only victory being in the final of the Rainbow Cup in 2021. The Bulls go into the match not only eager to secure a home play-off, but with rampant confidence after destroying Zebre with ball in hand.
With stand-in flyhalf Willie le Roux running the backline against Zebre, the Bulls attacked at high speed and exhausted the Italians by using the width of the field to score eight excellent tries.
The Bulls will undoubtedly aim to stretch Benetton in the same way, with the altitude likely to finish off the visitors in the fourth quarter.
Coach Johan Ackermann rested several star players last weekend but is expected to bring back halfbacks Embrose Papier and Handre Pollard, amongst others, as they target maximum momentum ahead of the quarter-finals.