Bulls’ season on a knife edge as North-South derby looms

OPINION: The Bulls have come to a crossroads in their United Rugby Championship campaign, while the Stormers are well placed to strengthen their grip on top spot.

Back in June, the Bulls were the best team in South Africa, and the franchise itself appeared to be in a good space.

But after the assistant coaches and senior players called for Director of Rugby Jake White’s immediate dismissal, Johan Ackermann stepped into the breach.

Expectations were tempered ahead of the new season, and Ackermann himself called for patience.

Fast forward six months, and the Bulls are in the midst of yet another crisis.

The team has lost six out of nine games across the respective tournaments, and the powers that be have axed two more coaches.

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Ackermann will take charge of the forwards, Neil de Bruin – who previously worked with Ackermann in Japan – will lead the backs, while Springbok assistant coach Duane Vermeulen will provide further technical input.

Desperate times certainly call for desperate measures.

While the Bulls were the best team in South Africa six months ago, they’ve been among the worst-performing clubs across the 2025/26 season, and have lost five matches in succession.

Having lost 33-46 to Bordeaux-Bégles at home and 5-50 to Northampton Saints away, they are in danger of missing the Champions Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The Bulls could also miss out on Challenge Cup qualification – as the Stormers did last season – if they don’t accumulate enough log points from their remaining pool matches against Bristol (home) and Pau (away) next month.

And in light of the past weekend’s results, the Bulls have dropped to 10th place on the URC table.

There’s no guarantee that they will be in the URC playoff mix come June, or that they will qualify for Europe next season.

Such an outcome would mark the steepest of declines for a team that’s featured in three of the four URC finals to date.

Ackermann may encourage his players and coaches to view the next part of the season as a new beginning.

But the road to redemption could not be tougher.

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The Bulls may simplify their task by sacrificing their remaining European pool matches and focusing on the URC campaign.

That said, the next phase of their URC schedule is particularly daunting – and starts with a monumental north-south derby played in the shadow of Table Mountain.

The Bulls have lost eight out of 10 URC fixtures against their arch-rivals, and were fortunate to win the last clash in Cape Town after Clayton Blommetjies missed a late conversion that would have given the hosts a one-point victory.

Consider what a rare win at the Cape Town Stadium this Saturday could do for the Bulls players and coaches at this stage of the journey.

Ackermann may opt to back his best players for the subsequent Champions Cup clash against Bristol – for the sake of building momentum and boosting morale.

Thereafter, he may send a weakened team to Pau and focus on the subsequent URC clash in Edinburgh as another must-win.

The following week, the Bulls will need to shake off the effects of travel fatigue to beat an equally desperate Lions team at Ellis Park.

If the Bulls can get to the three-week break in February with three URC wins in the bag, they will be well placed for a late-season playoff charge.

They will play their following four URC matches at home, against the Sharks, Stormers, Cardiff in Munster.

It’s worth noting, of course, that the Stormers, Cardiff and Munster have been the top-performing teams in this year’s URC, and will be difficult to beat, even at Loftus Versfeld.

If the Bulls lose to the Stormers this Saturday – a likely outcome, given the contrasting form of the teams – their playoff quest will only get tougher.

Most teams would be thrilled to come away from Cape Town with one or two log points, given the Stormers’ outstanding record at the venue.

One problem Ackermann and Co face, of course, is that the tournament-leading Stormers defence is unlikely to concede four tries – which would give the Bulls a losing bonus point.

Another problem is the Bulls have failed to stay in the fight – on attack or defence – in recent matches.

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Over the course of their five-game losing run, the Bulls have proved particularly poor in the second stanza, and have gone on to lose each match by nine points or more.

It’s impossible to win every match over the course of a 10-month season, but the leading teams typically accumulate losing bonus points along the way.

Perhaps this is the best the Bulls can hope for in Cape Town this weekend, yet it remains to be seen how recent events will influence their strategy.

Do they double down on their all-out attacking approach, and risk exposing themselves to the Stormers’ Bomb Squad in the second stanza?

Do they revert to a more conservative game, in an attempt to grind out a win, or at the very least ensure that the scoreline is close enough to secure a losing bonus point?

Unfortunately for the visitors, the Stormers will have added motivation to make this particular fixture count.

Every north-south derby matters, but the Stormers have had two weeks to prepare for this particular encounter.

It’s possible that Dobson will rest his first-choice players for the next Champions Cup match against the Harlequins in London, and ensure that the strongest available combination enjoys a further two weeks to prepare for the next home game against the Leicester Tigers.

That match against the Tigers may present the Stormers with an opportunity to secure home advantage for the Champions Cup Round of 16 – and that outcome will mitigate the travel challenges in the latter stage of the season.

For the reasons above, there will be more than bragging rights at stake when these teams meet on Saturday.