Nick Mallett offers ‘blueprint’ to Bulls on how to beat Leinster in URC final
Ex-Springboks coach Nick Mallett (inset) and the Bulls players in action during their URC semi-final win over Glasgow Warriors.
Ex-Springboks head coach Nick Mallett has given the Bulls a detailed plan on how to beat Leinster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) final at Croke Park on Friday.
The eagerly anticipated encounter will be a repeat of last year’s URC final, which the Irish province won 32-7 at the same venue.
Apart from that defeat, the Bulls also lost the inaugural URC final against the Stormers in 2022 and the 2024 one against Glasgow Warriors at Loftus Versfeld.
Although they head into this year’s final as the underdogs, Mallett believes the Pretoria-based outfit could cause an upset and finally be crowned champions.
The Bulls head into this year’s final with some confidence after clinching a stunning 22-21 comeback win over Glasgow Warriors in their semi-final at Murrayfield.
They suffered all those previous URC final defeats while under the guidance of Jake White before Johan Ackermann took over the coaching reins at the start of the season, and despite going through a dip in form midway through their campaign, they were soon on the right track and Mallett hailed their efforts to reach the final again.
“Remember, it’s the first, again, for Ackermann with this team. So, it’s a new era and he’s done really well, as have the players, to get themselves into the final, to beat Glasgow,” he told the Talking Boks podcast with Brenden Nel.
‘The Bulls have a lot of confidence’
“Having been 20-odd points down early on was a great performance. I mean, Glasgow are a very experienced team, even though perhaps not playing quite as well as they have over the last few seasons. So the Bulls have got a lot of confidence.
“I think (Handre) Pollard at 10 has been a big help. I think they didn’t have that direction at 10 in the previous years, although he didn’t kick very well this last weekend (against Glasgow).”
Bulls team: Springboks aplenty as Johan Ackermann keeps the faith for URC final against Leinster
Leinster booked their spot in this year’s final after securing a hard-fought 20-11 semi-final victory over the Stormers and Mallett believes the Bulls could get the better of the Irish province if they use a similar ‘blueprint’ to the one used by the men from the Cape.
“The physicality of the Stormers game was immense. I don’t think people understand how tired Leinster got. They play an attacking game that depends on phase play and momentum,” he explained.
“And when you try to create this phase play and momentum with ball in hand and guys are getting off the line at pace and smashing you and you’re having to go backwards, you never get the momentum you need to be dangerous with the stack attack that they have where the guy takes it to the line and he’s got two options, short or out the back, an inside option as well.”
Leinster reached the semi-finals after cruising to a 59-10 victory over the Lions in the quarter-finals, and Mallett feels their opponents’ poor defensive efforts led to their undoing.
“When you saw how they played against the Lions (in the quarter-finals), the Lions were so passive on defence,” he said. (Sam) Prendergast was running three or four paces with the ball right to the line and then making decisions.
“Against the Stormers, he was being smashed behind the line and he started playing deeper and deeper.
“So, this is what I mean, it’s very difficult to change your defensive system in a week but the line speed of the Stormers and the work rate of the Stormers was unbelievable.
“And they were very bruised after that game, battered and bruised Leinster. They need the two weeks before they go into this game.”
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
Mallett feels the Bulls are good enough to get the better of Leinster but said it’s crucial that they do not try to take on Leo Cullen’s troops at their own game.
‘Bulls have a very good pack of forwards’
“The Bulls do have a lot of talent and a very good pack of forwards. So, the blueprint is not to try and play phase play rugby against Leinster,” he added.
“The blueprint is to go from set-piece to set-piece, to break it up into a stop-start game, which doesn’t allow them any momentum.
“A lot of contestables, put them under pressure so you can recover the ball and particularly at scrum-time, put them under pressure. So, they’ve got a great lineout, the Bulls.
“They’ve got the players certainly in the pack to do it. And they’ve got a backline that can play for their forwards. It’s just the defence.
“It’s the concentration on defence that the Stormers had, which requires a work-rate. You cannot play phase play rugby and have a defence like that because it’s just too tiring. You’ve got to choose one or the other.
“You have a phase play attack and your defence is a bit passive or else you go all out on defence and you just smash players and you work on transitions and turnovers for your attacking opportunities and set-piece.
“And I think that’s the answer for the Bulls. If they can do that, they’re going to make it difficult for Leinster.”
READ MORE: United Rugby Championship final: Prediction, teams, kick-off time, TV coverage and more
