'110% focus': Bulls zero in on ending Llanelli hoodoo
WATCH: The Bulls are a ‘110 percent’ focused on their own performance as they pursue a play-off finish in the United Rugby Championship and aim to break their longstanding Llanelli hoodoo.
They kept their play-off ambitions alive with a commanding 47-7 victory over the Dragons in Newport this past weekend.
A superb second-half display saw the Bulls build on a narrow 12-7 halftime lead at Rodney Parade, running in seven tries to the hosts’ solitary score.
Despite the emphatic win, the Pretoria side remains eighth on the URC table with 45 points – just one ahead of Connacht, but three behind the fourth-placed Lions.
The Bulls will need to maintain their momentum, starting with a clash against the Scarlets, before wrapping up the round-robin phase with home fixtures against Zebre Parma and Benetton.
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“You can only control what you can and that was our performance on the weekend,” Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee said.
“The rest is in other teams’ hands and if it does benefit you forward, it’s just great.
“But we can’t really bargain all our chips on that.
“We have to still grind out every win and get the most out of it where we possibly can.
“But I think there’s just a sense of hunger in the team to really want to make the play-offs and even take that step further forward without looking too far ahead.
“But for now, the focus is 110 percent on Saturday night against Scarlets.”
Bulls flank Marco van Staden emphasised the need for consistency in a congested table.
“Every match from now on is extremely important,” he said.
“Teams are within five or six points of each other, from positions three to nine. If you come up short in one match, then it will cost you.
“We must try to get maximum points from every game and try to stay in that top eight.”
The Bulls have yet to record a win at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli. On their last visit, they suffered a narrow 22-23 defeat, as the Welsh side capitalized on red card shown to hooker Johan Grobbelaar.
“They’re a team that stays in the fight until the very last minute,” Coetzee said of the Scarlets, who are 14th on the log.
“If you’re ill-disciplined or allow them into your half, they capitalise. That makes them very dangerous.
“We have always come up short against them, so the motivation is definitely there and there is everything to play for.”
He added: “The biggest motivation is that we’ve never won there. It keeps you humble and provides extra motivation to train harder, be sharper and do our homework better.”
