'We got ourselves in this position': Why Bulls are on edge

SPOTLIGHT: Bulls captain Ruan Nortje admitted that his side is in play-off mode as they continue their push for play-off qualification in the United Rugby Championship.

The Bulls will enter their URC Round 15 clash against the Lions in Pretoria in sixth position with 41 points.

They are only three points behind the fourth-placed Glasgow Warriors and seven points ahead of Cardiff in ninth place. The top eight teams at the end of the round-robin stage will advance to the play-offs.

While they are within touching distance of a top-four spot, the Bulls will still have some tricky fixtures against strong Irish opposition in the URC.

After the Lions match, Ulster (in Belfast) and Leinster (in Pretoria) await the Bulls, who will have a fixture with Zebre in between those two matches.

When asked if his team is going to treat each game like a play-off, Nortje said: "That is the mentality that we have.

"We got ourselves in this position.

"We are just focusing on this weekend's game.

"It's a play-off game for us. If we want to finish in the top four then we can't have any slip-ups.

"It is non-stop play-off rounds for us now."

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The Bulls suffered a 19-23 defeat to the Stormers in their last outing and they will now be looking to get their campaign back on track against the Lions.

"We want to go out this weekend and perform well for the fans and the whole franchise.

"You always want to finish as high as possible on the log and a play-off is always vital for us.

"But this week we have just been focussing on getting stuck into this weekend and thinking about nothing else."

Nortje believes the season can only be viewed as a success if they are crowned champions at the end of it.

"The most important thing is winning win games and if you are still in contention when it's the back-end of the competition.

"That's where we want to be. We want to be in the play-offs. To go all the way will always be our aim, so a successful season is when you can lift that trophy at the end.

"We just want to be better and give ourselves an opportunity to be there at the back-end of the competition."

@rugby365com