Watch VideoBulls captain Marcell Coetzee: Holding our nerve is key to URC Top 8

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee and fly-half Handré Pollard are calling for cool heads as they head to Newport to face the Dragons. Photo: Backpagepix Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee says it is all about “holding your nerve” as the United Rugby Championship (URC) heads into afour-match straight ahead of the quarter-finals. The Bulls visit the Dragons on Friday night, followed by the Scarlets, them go home to host Zebre and Benetton.

The men from Pretoria are in the tenuous eighth spot on the URC points table on 40 points from their 14 matches, with ninth-placed Connacht breathing down their necks (39 points). On the other side of the coin in the congested Top 8, the Bulls are just three points behind the fifth-placed Lions. In between the Bulls and the Lions are Munster and Cardiff (both on 41).

The Bulls, on paper, have one of the easier run-ins to the play-offs because their four opponents are at the bottom of the 16-team table — Benetton are 12th, and then the Dragons, Scarlets and Zebre occupy the final three positions on the log. Coetzee says his team will not get lulled into a false sense of security, starting with the Dragons in Newport. “If you look at all the Dragons’ URC games so far, they were always in the game, and then it was just moments where it got away from them,” he said.

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“They will take a lot of confidence from reaching the next stage of the Challenge Cup (the Dragons are semi-finalists). “It makes it difficult because you don’t really know what team you will be getting on the day. That is why it’s important that we just focus on our plans that we want to implement.

We spotted a few things we can exploit, but it’s not going to be easy, and our mindset must be right for the Dragons.” The Bulls had a dreadful run earlier in the season — they lost seven games in a row — but seemed to have found their rhythm. “We’ve put ourselves in this position, and only we can get ourselves out of it,” Coetzee said. “There’s pressure, but we’ve accepted that. Every game is precious now.” Sitting next to Coetzee was Springbok flyhalfHandré Pollard, who echoed Coetzee’s call for calm and accuracy.

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