Tetchy Jake 'gatvol' of 0-5 losing streak talk: 'I'll be sick if I hear about it again'

While Jake White did not downplay just how accomplished the Stormers are, the Bulls head coach grew visibly cranky over incessant talk that his troops, by virtue of a five-match losing streak, are already against the ropes before they run out at Cape Town Stadium for their URC quarter-final against the defending champions on Saturday.

That Western Province, lacking several first-choice stars, still managed to beat the men from Pretoria 31-7 in their Currie Cup match last weekend, also in Cape Town, didn't help matters.

"The Stormers must be favourites. If anything, they've beaten us five times in a row," said the former Bok coach.

"And if I hear that again, I think I'm going to be sick, but five times is what it is.

"Nonetheless, it’s absolutely irrelevant how many times they’ve won before. The players are in the right space. It's knockout rugby now, and a couple of months ago we had no chance of making the playoffs, if I read all the articles.

"It was all doom and gloom. We had, in everyone’s eyes, a poor season after ending sixth on the log. Some teams play really well and end up fifth and fourth. So, it’s a massive challenge, I am not disputing that.

"But it's a knockout game now, and one thing we have managed to do over time is to play really well in games that have counted, where we've had to win and knock people out of competitions."

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Those words, naturally, bring with it memories of how the Bulls unexpectedly but memorably went to Dublin in last year's semi-final and toppled heavyweights Leinster.

This time there's the added narrative that a challenge in the Mother City, in relative terms, might be less demanding