THE Bulls may have left their run to defend the Super 14 title too late, but they are awaking from their slumber to threaten the Waratahs' home semi-final hopes.
That's the warning from NSW's attacking coach, Todd Louden, who is the best possible person to make that call given he was the Pretoria-based side's attacking maestro last season.
Louden believes the turning point for the Bulls was their 47-17 win over the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in round 10. That result was in stark contrast to their 22-50 loss to the Hurricanes at the same venue the week before.
Louden believes the Bulls are no longer struggling with the experimental law variations. Nor are they a side that is still rudderless without second-rower Victor Matfield, who is playing in France but will return to play in the veldt next season.
Their form is alarming for the Waratahs, who must win two of their last three games - starting with the 11th-placed Bulls in Pretoria late tonight Sydney time - to ensure a home semi-final. The prospect of being forced to beat the Sharks at Cape Town next Saturday, and then the Reds in Brisbane is daunting.
But Louden was not pushing the panic button as he and the Waratahs arrived in Pretoria on Thursday evening.
In fact, as the Waratahs entered the city in the team bus, Louden was struck by how circumstances had changed since he was last on the same road.
"[I] was in a truck with a bar in it celebrating a Super 14 win," Louden said.
He is adamant the Bulls are not the team they were when the season began. "They turned a corner against the Highlanders, there's no doubt about that," Louden said. "Players like [No.8] Pierre Spies, who is slowly playing himself back into form … he is an absolute gun of a player. One of the most athletic forwards I have ever coached.
"They beat the Highlanders really well, too, and they played very good rugby. There was a real improvement in their defence. You could see a lot of tactics in terms of slowing the ball up so the Highlanders couldn't get that momentum of play.
"That was really evident having a look at that game closely. That allows them and their big forwards to get that big momentum. That was the one standout difference.
"Plus they played a little bit smarter in their backs. Whereas in previous games they threw it around without any direction."
Louden says the Bulls are also even "starting to get around" the "big loss" of Matfield. In the visitors' favour, though, are the parallels he can see between the championship-winning Bulls side of last year and the current band of Waratahs.
"There was very much a chemistry and a tightness [in the Bulls]," said Louden, who will leave NSW next year to coach Japanese club Ricoh. "These players have it, but in a very Australian way. That's probably why I relate more to the Waratahs than I did to the Bulls. There are a lot of similarities with last year.
"The Bulls, out of their first four games, only won two. Our plan was to build through the season, just as it is with NSW. And unfortunately we [at the Bulls in 2007] had a lot of games in the wet - very similar to NSW [in 2008]. There are a lot of similarities."
With young turks Kurtley Beale, Rob Horne and Tom Carter set to be targeted by the Bulls in the hostile Loftus arena, Louden's inside knowledge of the Bulls and Pretoria should also help the Waratahs. And while Louden expects the Bulls to try something new, he is banking on a forward battle.
"Whoever dictates the pace at various stages of the game can win," he said. "Sure, they will come at us. There was a big emphasis last year at the Bulls. It will be a big emphasis this game.
"Also, they will try and isolate a few of our players [in the back line]. But they will still want to win that battle in the forwards. It will still be won or lost in the forwards."
