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Bulls coach Johan Ackermann says his side have nothing to lose as they look to lift their game in Saturday’s Champions Cup round of 16 clash against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland.
The teams meet at Scotstoun Stadium at 6.30pm, with the Bulls facing a tough task against hosts in emphatic form.
Glasgow won all four of their matches against Sale Sharks, Toulouse, Clermont and Saracens, to top pool 1 and earn the home play-off.
They are the team to beat, having lost just one match in their last 12 across all competitions. They also lead the United Rugby Championship table with 11 wins from 14 games.
The Bulls, meanwhile, are a team in decent, if not great, form with five wins out of six games since their seven-match losing streak in the early season.
‘Give it our best shot’
But Ackermann said they were their own worst enemies in their nail-biting 34-31 win over Munster at Loftus last week. They should have scored two or three times, but didn’t, regularly gave away soft penalties, and failed to secure easy kicks.
This allowed Munster to fight back three times after the Bulls went ahead (21-12, 28-19 and 34-26).
The Bulls coach named a Springbok-packed squad for their month-long Euro tour, which includes the Glasgow game, a possible Champions Cup quarter-final, and URC matches at Dragons and Scarlets, before returning home in May.
“If we’re in the playoffs of the EPCR, we must give it a go,” Ackermann said. “We’re going to go out and give it our best shot.”
The Bulls know Glasgow well
According to Ackermann, they would have to be better against Glasgow, whom the Bulls know well after their 2023/24 URC final defeat at Loftus. The Bulls were favourites to win the trophy after beating Franco Smith’s side in the league phase at the same venue a month earlier.
“They’re probably the best attacking side in the competition, so it’s a massive challenge. They will punish you if we make the same defensive errors,” Ackermann said.
“We’ve got nothing to lose. We’re going to go there, go hard and give ourselves an opportunity. If we go further, that’s great, and then we take it from there.”
He said the Bulls were obliged to do their best job in “one of the best competitions in the world”.
The teams have met six times, all in the URC, with each side winning three, including twice at home and once away. Glasgow beat the Bulls 21-12 in their round 5 URC match in Scotland in October last year.
