The Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the

Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 130 million customers across Africa. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to ...

Bulls) are a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team based in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. They play their home matches at

Loftus Versfeld Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a Rugby union, rugby stadium situated in the suburb of Arcadia, Pretoria, Arcadia, city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, owned by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union. The stadium can accommodate 51,762 spe ...

. They compete in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

, having competed in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

competition until 2020. Prior to

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, the Bulls competed in the then-

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, as in those years South Africa was represented in the competition by its top four

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

sides from the previous season, instead of the modern Super Rugby teams. The side won the Super 14 in 2007, 2009 and 2010, placing them among the most successful teams in

history with three titles. They were the most successful team of the Super 14 era (2006–10), winning three out of the five titles. They are the most successful South African team, and the only South African team to win a Super Rugby title. The Currie Cup team has been seen playing as the Bulls and not the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by their second team t ...

since the 2020-21 season. This is a move to rebrand all the teams under one name and not only the Bulls rebranded their Currie Cup name but the Sharks and Lions also modified their names

History

Early history

Prior to the professional

competition,

competed in the Super 10 (Southern Hemisphere competition), Super 10, which was a tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

and

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...

, which ran from 1993 to 1995. The top three teams from the previous

season qualified for each of the Super 10 tournaments. Northern Transvaal competed in the

1993 season The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its calendar advanced 24 hours to th ...

, where they were grouped in Pool B alongside

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

North Harbour North Harbour or North Harbor may refer to: Canada * North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on St. Mary's Bay * North Harbour, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community on Placentia Bay * North Harbour, ...

and

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

. Transvaal finished at the top of the pool, with Northern Transvaal finishing third, behind New South Wales. Northern Transvaal did not qualify for the Super 10 (Southern Hemisphere competition)#1994 Super 10 or

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

seasons.

Early Professional Era (1996–2005)

After rugby union went professional, the Super 10 tournament was restructured. The

was created, and was to be competed by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Both Australia and New Zealand adopted new franchise models for their teams, whereas South Africa chose to use the Currie Cup to decide what teams were to be promoted in the Super 12 each season. Competing in the inaugural Super 12 season of

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, Northern Transvaal were one of the 12 teams. The side won eight of their 11 games and finished third on the table – behind only Auckland and Queensland. Jannie Kruger finished the season in the top three leading point-scorers, behind only Matt Burke and

John Eales John Anthony Eales (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups. Early life E ...

. The side was however soundly defeated in a semi-final by the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

, with the final score being 48 points to 11. The game was played at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. After their fairly successful performance in the opening competition, the subsequent competition of 1997 saw them with three wins and three draws from 11 games. They finished at eighth. Following the 1997 season, South Africa adopted a similar franchise system to that of Australia and New Zealand's, abolishing the Currie Cup promotion system in favour of creating new franchises. The Bulls were formed as one of the four new teams. They did not make the semis in the 1998 season. The Bulls were considered one of the worst teams in the Super 12 competition, finishing last or second to last for five consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2003. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, they became the first team ever to go through an entire Super Rugby season without winning a single game. This record remained until the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

repeated the feat during the 2010 season. After finishing fourth in the inaugural competition, they did not make the semis again until the years 2003. The Bulls finished in 6th place in both 2003 and 2004, though still missing out on a finals position. They equalled there 1996 performance in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, although there was a very poor start to the season, it was followed by six straight wins to earn them a semi-final berth, where they were defeated by the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

Bryan Habana Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player. Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He played for the , the and ...

finished in the top three try-scorers by the end of the season, and was short-listed for IRB player of the year.

Super 14 Era (2006–10)

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, the Super 12 became the Super 14, with the addition of two new franchises, the

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

and the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

. By the last round of the 2006 season, the Bulls, along with the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

and Sharks were all in contention to take the fourth and final position on the ladder to make the semi-finals. After the Brumbies were defeated 33 to 3 by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, the Bulls or Sharks could mathematically take the fourth spot. The Bulls defeated the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

43 points to 10, which ensured they went through to the semi-finals. The Bulls travelled to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

where they were defeated 35 to 15 at

Jade Stadium Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthqu ...

and knocked out of the finals. The Bulls lost their first game of the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rug ...

, going down to the Sharks in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

17 points to 3. Entering week 14, the last round of the regular season, the Bulls were chasing an unlikely 72-point win over the Queensland Reds in order to move into second place and get a home semi-final. At Loftus, the Bulls defeated the Reds 92 points to 3, with the 89-point margin of victory setting a new Super rugby record. The Bulls ran in 13 tries with four players getting doubles and Derick Hougaard kicking 11 conversions. The Sharks finished first, so it became the first time that both home venues in the semi-finals was in South Africa. The Bulls defeated the Crusaders in their semi-final by 27 points to 12, with Derick Hougaard kicking eight penalties and a drop-goal. The Sharks ensured a home-final in the 2007 Super 14-competition by defeating the Blues with a scoreline of 34–18. When the Bulls met the Sharks in the Super 14 final at the Absa Stadium in Durban the match turned out to be a tight, nervous affair with the Bulls initially being guilty of indiscipline and making a lot of mistakes. The Sharks carried a 14–10 advantage into half-time after a

JP Pietersen Jon-Paul Roger "JP" Pietersen (born 12 July 1986 in Stellenbosch, South Africa) is a South African former rugby union player for the in the Currie Cup. He generally played fullback or wing, but occasionally he played at outside centre. He pla ...

try cancelled out one from Pierre Spies. The second half of the match was just as nail-biting, with the Bulls gaining the ascendancy in the match, but failing to turn their rising amount of possession into points. A Derick Hougaard penalty closed the gap to 14–13, after which the Bulls made several onslaughts on the Sharks line, only to lose the ball at critical stages. Their match looked to be all but over for the Bulls when Albert van den Berg barged over the line for a Sharks try two minutes from full-time to stretch their lead to six points. However,

François Steyn François Philippus Lodewyk Steyn (born 14 May 1987) is a South African former professional rugby union player. A Utility player#Rugby union, utility back who represented his South Africa national rugby union team, country, he was able to play a ...

failed with the conversion attempt, and the Bulls restarted with barely seconds on the clock. After regaining the ball from the kick-off, play went through several phases before

received the ball on the right wing. He cut infield and scored the most dramatic of match winning tries, more than a minute after official play. The try was converted by Derick Hougaard and the Bulls won the match 20–19. In 2009 the Bulls again won the Super 14, defeating the Chiefs 61 – 17 in the final in Pretoria. In 2010 the Bulls again finished top of the log by beating the Crusaders in a home semi final to secure a home final. Because the FIFA World Cup was being hosted by South Africa that year and Loftus was included as a venue, they had to play the semi and final in Soweto, a first in Super Rugby history. The Stormers had beaten the Waratahs at home and would face off with the Bulls in the Final. The Bulls won the final once again in dramatic style when Francois Hougaard sidestepped the Stormers fullback Joe Petersen to score an impressive try.

Super Rugby Era (2011–2020)

The Bulls only managed the Super Rugby South African Conference trophy in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and they were three time conference runner-up in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. They also reached the Qualifiers twice and Semi-final once but lost all three play-off matches. After the

2020 Super Rugby season The 2020 Super Rugby season was the 25th season of Super Rugby, the international men's rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR involving teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the third tournament in i ...

was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, a replacement tournament was announced for each country. The South African tournament was called

Super Rugby Unlocked Super Rugby Unlocked (known as Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked for sponsorship reasons) was a professional rugby union competition played in South Africa from 10 October to 21 November 2020. Sponsored by communications company Vodacom, the tourname ...

and the Bulls were crowned the champions after ending top of the log. The South African teams withdrew from the competition entirely, making the Bulls the only South African winners of any form of the Super Rugby trophy.

Pro14 and United Rugby Championship Era (2021–present)

The

Pro14 Rainbow Cup The Pro14 Rainbow Cup (also known as the Guinness Brewery, Guinness Pro14 Rainbow Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a professional rugby union end-of-season cup competition played in 2021 that consisted of two separate tournaments: the Rainbow C ...

was announced as an end-of-season cup competition to introduce the South African teams after their withdrawal from Super Rugby. After the regular season the top of the South African log Bulls faced European top Benetton in the final in Italy. The Bulls lost their first match in Europe as well as the Pro14 Rainbow Cup final 35–8. The 2021–22 season was a tough start for the Bulls with two straight losses in Europe against

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

31-3 and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

34–7. The Bulls got their first win in Europe on 9 October 2021 beating

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

29–19. They went on to finish in 4th place on the overall standings after regular season, securing a home quarter-final.

Location

The team is centred around the

Blue Bulls Rugby Union The Blue Bulls Rugby Union, previously Northern Transvaal Rugby Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Pretoria, two neighboring municipalities in Gauteng Province, and all of Limpopo Province, in South Africa. The union's headquarters ...

, whose catchment covers

as well as

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

, but also draws players from the Falcons Rugby Union, who represent the

East Rand The East Rand is a major urban area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the urban eastern part of Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. The region extends from Alberton in the west to ...

. Through 2005, the Bulls also drew players from the Pumas Rugby Union and Leopards Rugby Union, but in the realignment of franchise areas that came from the expansion of

to Super 14, these unions were moved into the

Stadium

The Bulls play all their home matches at the

stadium in

, which is also the home of the

during the Currie Cup season. The stadium is also a regular host for

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

Test matches, and was a venue during the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

which South Africa hosted. Loftus was a venue for Pool D matches including

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

v Tonga and France v Scotland. Loftus was also used twice during the finals stages – for the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

quarter-final and the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

third place play-off. The ground has been used for rugby since 1908, and in 1932 the stadium was renamed to Loftus Versfeld in honor of Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld, the founder of organized rugby in Pretoria. The stadium has undergone numerous renovations over the years, and is currently capable of holding 51,762 spectators.

Primary sponsor

Since 2005, the team's main sponsor has been

mobile communications Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobil ...

company

. On the team's website and all team-issued press releases, the Bulls are referred to as the Vodacom Bulls.

Current squad

The Bulls squad for the

2024–25 United Rugby Championship The 2024–25 United Rugby Championship was the 24th season of the professional rugby union competition currently known as the United Rugby Championship, the highest level domestic rugby competition in South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and It ...

is.

Coaches

*1996: Dr John Williams *1997:

Kitch Christie George Moir Christie, better known as Kitch Christie (31 January 1940 – 22 April 1998), was a South African rugby union coach best known for coaching the country's national team, the Springboks, to victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He rem ...

*1998–1999: Eugene van Wyk *2000:

Heyneke Meyer Heyneke Meyer (born 6 October 1967) is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching L ...

*2001: Phil Pretorius *2002:

*2003: Rudi Joubert *2004–2007:

*2008–2015:

Frans Ludeke Frans Ludeke (born 24 April 1968) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the head coach of Japanese Top League side Kubota Spears. having previously coached the and the in Super Rugby. Ludeke, who coached the Bulls between 2008 and 2 ...

*2016–2017: Nollis Marais *2018–2019: John Mitchell *2019–2020:

Pote Human Gerhard 'Pote' Human (born ) is a South African rugby union coach. He currently serves as head coach of the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby (MLR), and is the former head coach of the in Super Rugby and the in the Currie Cup. As a play ...

*2020–present:

Jake White Jacob Charles White (born 13 December 1963 as Jacob Westerduin) is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 ...

Captains

* 1996–97:

Ruben Kruger Ruben Jacobus Kruger (30 March 1970 – 27 January 2010) was a South African rugby union player. He played as a flanker. He had two daughters Zoë (b. 2002) and Isabella (b. 2005). Isabella played quarter final on the junior tournament at the ...

* 1998: Adriaan Richter * 1999: Schutte Bekker * 2000: Ruben Kruger * 2001:

Joost van der Westhuizen Joost van der Westhuizen (20 February 1971 – 6 February 2017) was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and partici ...

* 2002: Chris le Roux * 2003: Joost van der Westhuizen * 2004:

Victor Matfield Victor Matfield (born 11 May 1977) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played for and South African rugby union captains, captained the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team (Springboks) as ...

* 2005: Anton Leonard * 2006–07: Victor Matfield * 2008: Fourie du Preez * 2009–11: Victor Matfield * 2012–13: Pierre Spies * 2014: Flip van der Merwe & Victor Matfield * 2015: Victor Matfield * 2016:

Adriaan Strauss Jan Adriaan Strauss (born 18 November 1985) is a South African former professional rugby union player who played first class rugby between 2005 and 2018. He played in 66 international test matches for (captaining them in 2016) and also featured ...

* 2017:

Handré Pollard Handré Pollard (born 11 March 1994) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and in the United Rugby Championship. His regular playing pos ...

* 2018: Burger Odendaal * 2019: Lood de Jager * 2020: Burger Odendaal and

Trevor Nyakane Trevor Ntando Nyakane (born 4 May 1989) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and also the South Africa national rugby team, His regular playing position is prop a ...

* 2020–21:

Duane Vermeulen Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a former South African professional rugby union player who previously played for the South Africa national team. He also previously played for Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Championsh ...

* 2021–present:

Marcell Coetzee Marcell Cornelius Coetzee (born 8 May 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who is the captain for South African side the in the United Rugby Championship. He plays as a flanker. South Africa Coetzee made his debut in Sup ...

Former players

Statistics

Results by opponent in European competitions

The results for the Bulls vs different opponents in European competitions * All these stats include playoff matches (qualifiers, semi-finals and finals) * United Rugby Championship fixtures added 2021–22 – 2024–25 (round 8) * European Rugby Champions Cup fixtures added

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

- 2024–25 * EPCR Challenge Cup fixtures added 2024–25 - 2024–25 * 2021

included. * Correct as of 13 April 2025

Overall results by opponent in all competitions

The complete results for the Bulls vs different opponents in all competitions * All these stats include playoff matches (qualifiers, semi-finals and finals) * All Super Rugby fixtures vs different opponents as Northern Transvaa
1996–1997
as Bull
1998–2020
included * All 2020

fixtures included * All 2021 Preparation Series fixtures included * 2021

included * 2022

Toyota Challenge The Toyota Challenge is a rugby union competition hosted in South Africa by the Cheetahs, a team sponsored by Toyota SA. The first tournament took place at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein between 13 November and 26 November 2021. In 2021, f ...

included * United Rugby Championship fixtures added 2021–22 – 2024–25 (round 9 Lions) * European Rugby Champions Cup included

– 2024–25 * Correct as of 13 April 2025 Other notable results:

Bulls records

United Rugby Championship (Rainbow Cup), Heineken Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup and Super Rugby records

Individual Records

Match Records

Winning Streaks

Season Records

* Correct as of 13 April 2025 (United Rugby Championship not updated with current season yet) *

also included as URC points.

Season Awards

United Rugby Championship

United Rugby Championship Team of the Year
The following Bulls players were selected in the URC team of the year. United Rugby Championship Golden Boot
The Golden Boot is awarded to the kicker who has successfully converted the highest percentage of place kicksTo be eligible, the player must have taken at least 20 kicks at goal. United Rugby Championship Ironman of the Year
The award for having played the most minutes in the URC during the season. United Rugby Championship Next-Gen Player of the Year
The award is to recognize young up and coming talent.

All Time Records

* All 2021

points included * All 2021 Preparation Series points included * 2021

points included * United Rugby Championship points included 2021–22 –

* Correct as of 3 June 2023

Play-off honours

Finals

Semi-Finals

Quarter-Finals

Trophies and Honours

* Team of the Year for the 2010 seaso

* Team of the Year for the 2020 seaso

Major International Honours as the Bulls

Minor Honours

Season-by-season record

Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runner-up
Bronze background denotes semi-finalists
Cyan background denotes quarter-finalists
Purple background denotes Round of 16
↑ After entering the European Rugby Champions Cup, Champions Cup/Heineken Cup competition from the

EPCR Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

↓ After dropping into the

competition from the European Rugby Champions Cup, Champions Cup/Heineken Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulls Super Rugby champions Super Rugby teams Rugby union teams in South Africa Sport in Pretoria Sport in Limpopo Blue Bulls Rugby Union 1997 establishments in South Africa Rugby clubs established in 1997 United Rugby Championship teams