Bulls ready for challenging start to URC, says Ackermann - TimesLIVE

The Bulls are bracing for a challenging start to their United Rugby Championship campaign when they travel to Europe to face Zebre and Munster in their opening matches, coach Johan Ackermann says.

After the heartache of losing the 2026 URC final against Leinster in Dublin, Ackermann says preparations are well on track for a successful campaign.

Zebre and Munster are both expected to field full-strength international line-ups and the Bulls will have to hit the ground running if they are to succeed in bringing log points home to South Africa.

The South African side face Zebra on September 26 before travelling to Ireland to face Munster on October 3.

“Zebre are interesting because they’ve changed captains and made big changes to their squad,” Ackermann said.

“In round one everybody is still in the running, so everybody is fired up, which makes them dangerous.

“I’ve played against them before with other teams and we needed the full 80 minutes to get the win there; you don’t just turn up and take it.

“Munster is going to be another massive challenge and Limerick is probably one of the most hostile places you can play.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge.

“I think we’re in a better place than last season in terms of planning and putting things in place.

“This time round, aside from a few new players, everyone knows exactly what’s coming, and we’re trying to build on what we installed last season.

“On the fitness side, if I’m brutally honest, the All Blacks fixture disrupted that a little; we had to come back from the break and get straight into rugby.

“In an ideal world we’d have had more time to build our conditioning foundation, so it wasn’t quite the pre-season I’d hoped for in that respect.

Bulls coach Johan Ackermann. Picture: (SUPPLIED) “But I’m confident the players are in a better place than they were last season.”

Aclkermann said there was always a weight of expectation to lift trophies at the Bulls.

“There’s no doubt that puts pressure on us, and that is the expectation,” he said.

“It wasn’t nice losing that Vodacom URC final, but we took the lessons from it.

“There are probably 16 teams or so currently believing they can win it, and we’re just one of those teams with that dream.

“The reality is it will take a lot of hard work and commitment, and we can only control our next opportunity.”

The Bulls registered a 38-26 victory over the Stormers in a pre-season clash at Faure Street Stadium in Paarl last week.

The performance, however, was marred by a growing backline injury crisis.

New flyhalf recruit Curwin Bosch was a late withdrawal from the Stormers clash after picking up a calf problem in training.

“Curwin was scheduled to play, but he had strapping on his calf,” Ackermann said.

“We are a little bit worried. We hope he’ll be right for the first round, but it’s still too early.

“He hurt it at training and they still need to scan it properly. They’re just waiting for the first few days to pass to see whether he’ll be right for the first round.”

Adding to Ackermann’s selection headaches is Springbok scrumhalf Embrose Papier, who continues to nurse an ankle injury sustained during the Nations Championship series.

“He’s also one who I think will struggle to be ready for the start of the season, because an ankle injury is always something one can’t rush,” Ackermann admitted.