The Bulls won’t focus too much on the United Rugby Championship standings as they prepare to face log leaders, Leinster, in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Irish team is still unbeaten in the competition this year, with 16 wins and one draw. After round 17, the Bulls are in seventh place. They clinched a playoff spot with a crushing win over Zebre last weekend in Johannesburg.

The Bulls were in devastating form against Zebre at Ellis Park on Saturday. They stormed through the Zebre defence to score 11 tries to two and recorded a dominant 78-12 win.

The huge victory saw the Bulls book their place amongst the top eight of this season’s competition.

Lock, Ruan Vermaak, who joined the Pretoria side last year, was impressive and scored twice against the Italian side. “I’ve grown a lot as a person and as a player and I must give all the credit to the coaching staff and the systems that are in place here. They make it easy for us to grow as players and people. The time here has been awesome for me.”

Leinster, meanwhile, had to dig deep to beat the Lions 39-36 in the second match of the day. The Irish giants are without many of their star players, but the Bulls refuse to underestimate their firing power.

“We’re prepping as if we’re playing the best team that’s in the competition. It doesn’t matter. The boys that are in the team, they can play, they have a good team, doesn’t matter which side they’re bringing. So for us, we’re just focusing on the game and making sure that we get the result,” Vermaak adds.

The last League matches will be played this weekend. On Saturday, the Lions, who are out of top-eight contention, will kick off the doubleheader at Loftus with a clash against Zebre at one o’clock.

The Bulls will then follow against Leinster – kick-off is at four.