PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 29: Marcell Coetzee on his way to the try line during the United Rugby Championship match between Vodacom Bulls and Zebre at Loftus Versfeld on March 29, 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Johan Orton/Gallo Images)
History, form and the relative ease of the fixture favour the Bulls, but the Pretoria side know there is still work to do against Zebre Parma at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (kick-off 1.45pm).
The teams meet in the penultimate round of the United Rugby Championship, with the seventh-placed Bulls within touching distance of the four teams above them, while bottom side Zebre are already out of play-off contention.
The Bulls have won all four previous meetings between the sides and are expected to do so again, boosting their hopes of climbing into the top four and securing home play-off matches.
History favours the Bulls
The Bulls scored nine tries during a 63-24 thumping of Zebre at Loftus last year. They have never beaten the Italians by fewer than 25 points.
They also head into the clash on a four-game URC winning streak, their latest result delivering a first-ever victory over Scarlets in Llanelli.
Zebre, meanwhile, are on a three-game losing streak across all competitions. They have lost 13 straight URC matches since opening the season with home wins over Edinburgh and the Lions in September and October, more than six months ago.
Their last victory came a month ago when they beat Section Paloise 31-15 at home in the Challenge Cup last 16.
However, their recent defeats have at least been competitive. Zebre lost 35-25 to the Dragons in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals, and in the URC they fell 31-30 to Edinburgh in Scotland and 19-18 to Dragons in Italy.
Zebre could be tough – De Bruin
Bulls attack coach Neil de Bruin warned against underestimating Zebre, saying they may be closer to an upset than many think.
He stressed the Bulls could not be complacent and needed to adapt to conditions before thinking about a bonus point.
“We can’t think we need to score four tries or we will try to force things and chase things,” he said.
“We will try and stick as close to our processes as possible, and try and beat them firstly, beat a really good zebra side.
“I know they lower down on the log, but if you actually watch them, like, really watch them, there’s a lot there.”
De Bruin said Zebre have a dangerous attack, physical defenders and a strong maul, which could test one of the Bulls’ traditional strengths.
He added that the Bulls must focus on executing their own game plan first, with any bonus-point win needing to come as the result of a strong overall performance rather than forced ambition.
