Relishing an opportunity to unleash a dangerous backline, Chris Smith believes the Vodacom Bulls will rise to the challenge in a crunch Champions Cup playoff on Saturday, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.
The Bulls face the English Premiership leaders at Franklin’s Gardens in the quarter-finals of the EPCR competition after thumping Lyon in Pretoria last week.
Northampton beat Vodacom URC defending champions Munster to secure a home playoff against Jake White’s charges, who travelled on Tuesday evening for their first time appearance in the last eight.
A 33-9 defeat by five-time winners Toulouse in France brought the curtain down on the Bulls’ maiden Champions Cup campaign in 2022-23, but speaking to the media this week, Smith is optimistic about their chances.
“Northampton are an unbelievable side, watching them against Munster [on Sunday] it’s going to be extremely hard to go over there and pull one over them,” he told reporters.
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“[But] we’ve taken it a step further from last year, when we lost in Toulouse in the round of 16, so making a quarter-final is awesome – and you enter into a competition to win it.
“Playing away is tough but we’re going to prepare as well as we can and looking forward to the occasion and challenge.
“As a Bulls squad we’ve built some good depth, we’ve been in these big games playing away and gained that experience and learning from it, so there’s just a bit more belief in the camp.”
Smith came off the bench to score one of nine tries for the Bulls in the mauling of Lyon at Loftus Versfeld, and the flyhalf is eager to feature in another crunch playoff.
“It’s not a case of me doing all the playmaking, it’s about me trying to get the ball in their [backs’] hands as quickly as possible,” he said.
“I’ll try to bring my tactical game, to get the team on the front foot, but it’s the case of getting the ball as quickly as possible into those dangerous ballplayers’ hands.
“It’s been nice taking on a more serving role and letting them do all the fancy work and all the dancing, and that’s nice to see.”
Photo: @BlueBullsRugby/Twitter
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