The Bulls may be sitting pretty in second place on the Super 14 standings, but they are not about to go into a comfort zone. In fact the 2007 champions are already in 'play-off' mode.

The Bulls' Springbok and World Cup-winning prop Gurthrö Steenkamp, speaking to this website ahead of his team's Round 12 encounter with the Western Force, said that they are determined not to let their grip on a play-off position slip.

On the back of their impressive 33-27 win against the previously table-topping Chiefs and the 11-point haul on their Australasian tour, the Bulls are in buoyant mood.

"The win over the Chiefs was the ideal tonic after the loss to the Brumbies [in the last match on tour]," the burly Bok front row forward said.

"The great thing about this team is the way we back each other — everybody's arrows are pointing in the same direction," he said, adding: "We're backing the coach and the coach is backing us. There's such a great vibe in the team at present."

He said the losses on tour — to the Highlanders, Crusaders and Brumbies — are games they should have won, but those defeats never damaged the team morale.

"We stuck together and backed each other through the tough times," he said of those defeats, adding: "That is what stood out for me — normally a team that loses start falling apart, but this team just got closer as a unit."

Looking at this week's encounter with the Force — and the remaining league games against the Cheetahs and Sharks — Steenkamp said the Bulls are well aware of the steep climb they are facing.

"We know there's no easy games at this stage of the season. In fact every game we play now is like a knock-out game and you can see that the guys are really focused."

He felt that the Bulls are now better placed than in 2007, when they won their first — and only — Super Rugby title.

"In 2007, when we came back from tour, we were mid-table [sixth] and we had to fight hard to get back into play-off contention," the 27-year-old prop said.

"Now we are in such a strong position and we can dictate our own terms as we approach the play-offs.

"We still take it week-by-week, and we certainly don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but this is the best position we've ever been in at this stage of the season.

"If every player comes to the party and performs like he is capable of performing, then we can assure we win the last three [league] games."

Steenkamp felt that last week's heart-stopping [33-27] win over the Chiefs is perfect "preparation" for the play-offs.

"There are two ways to look at it — if you win by a big margin you know that you are playing good rugby, but when you get closer to the play-offs then I feel it could be better preparation to have good, close victories. That way it tests your resolve and ensures you retain your focus.

"When fatigue sets in in the latter stages of games, you know you can let your guard down. And you know that when it comes to a Final, there's very seldom big scores and you often win with a point or two — that is when having to grind out wins like these become valuable."

The other pleasing aspect of the Bulls' game is the marked improvement in their set pieces — the line-outs and in particular their scrumming.

"We are always putting a lot of work into our set pieces and we certainly weren't happy with that aspect earlier in the season. However, there has been a marked improvement in recent weeks.

"Every single player has made a contribution in this regard, to ensure our set pieces are up to the required standards.

"The great thing is that every players takes care of his job before looking at what other players are doing. Each individual looks at how he can improve his game to help the team."

He said the other key to the team's ongoing success would be for every player to 'turn up' for the game and ensure that he makes that contribution ever week.

"The biggest plus for us at the moment is the commitment this team is showing and you can see they don't want to let their teammates down. The players don't want to have to look into a teammate's eyes having let them down — we genuinely care about each other and what our teammates think of us."

Like every good player he says there's always room for improvement in his own game.

"It is difficult to judge yourself objectively, so you look at how other people rate you," he said, adding that his father remains one of his best critics because he is "always honest" about his son's game.

"I also have a great relationship with [Bulls coach] Frans Ludeke, he is always honest with me about the standard and qualities of my game.

"That is the communication channels we have at the Bulls, if the coaching staff are not happy with your game they will tell you. We are all very mature about how we approach this - the criticism is always uplifting and they certainly motivate us all the time.

"You always know where you stand."

Steenkamp, who started out his provincial career at the Cheetahs, is impressive when with the ball. However, the most outstanding aspect of his game is his superb defence.

A member of triumphant World Cup squad in 2007 he has gone a long way this year to establishing himself as South Africa's leading loosehead prop.

He has played in 20 Tests since making his debut against Scotland at Murrayfield in November 2004.

365

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook