VIDEO: Could Bulls be title contenders?
Today at 01:27 AM
REACTION: The United Rugby Championship title is still firmly in the Bulls' sights and within their grasp after securing victory over the Lions at Loftus on Saturday.
They are still in third position on the log but they have improved their overall points to 40.
Above them remain Glasgow Warriors in second place with 42 points and in first place the highly rated Leinster with an incredible 52 points.
The Bulls' Director of Rugby, Jake White was clearly relieved following the 31-19 win at Loftus on Saturday, especially after the resilience shown by the Lions to claw back from 0-17 down to trail by 14-17 at halftime.
"The first 12 minutes was probably the best we've played in a long, long time against anybody," the coach said after the game.
"It looked at that point, 17-0 up, that it was going to be one-sided. So, to let them score two tries and make it 17-14 at halftime...
"They are a good team and they can score tries, and when they start running at you, it's difficult to defend against them.
"They don't go away, and let's be fair: they had two or three tries there which were disallowed, and if they score those, then it's a different pressure in the last 15 minutes."
Title contenders?
White has reiterated his stance that no team that has ended up in first place, has won the competition since the South African sides joined.
And it is this reality that keeps him positive that the title is still within their grasp.
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"It is irrelevant where you end up in the Pool stages.
"When you know you can't come first - and let's be fair, it would be a disaster if Leinster doesn't end first - that means two, three, four are the positions you want to end up in.
"And teams that have finished fourth have won this competition," White explained at the post-match press conference.
"Every coach will sit here and say let's win every game, finish top, get a home Semi, a home Final, whatever.
"But the nature of this competition, with all the dynamics of European Cup, Six Nations, rotation of players, injuries - it's fluid and you have to find a way on the run to manage things.
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"Because I would never have told you three weeks ago that we would be sitting without three captains for the derby games.
"I would never have expected that.
"So who knows, in the next month a lot of things can change.
"But we want to finish up as high as we can and that is first prize.
"But second prize is we want to have the last three games for the chance to actually win the competition.
"If we are good enough, we should be able to beat any teams that we have played, and beaten, in the last three seasons," he concluded
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