JOHANNESBURG - It may have come across in jest from Bulls coach Nollis Marais that there is no love lost between the Bulls and Stormers but the reality is that there will be little love and plenty of blood rushing to the head when these two giants of South African rugby lock horns at Newlands on Saturday.
“Look, there is no love lost between north and south, Bulls and Stormers. It will be the same this weekend. We expect a very hostile reception and we like it. It makes it interesting. That is why it is a derby. It is north/south. It is war and nothing else. We want to go out there and win,” Marais said during yesterday’s team announcement at Loftus Versfeld.
The ferocity of this encounter will further be heightened by the grim reality that both sides will see themselves as the rightful candidates to finish the season atop the Africa 1 Conference and give them a free pass into the quarter-finals of the competition.
So the gloves will be off and the only pleasantries will be left for after the battle has been won or lost.
“The proof will be in the pudding. I think it’s going to be a tough match tomorrow and I think we’ve developed a lot from where we were, how we want to play and the way we think about things. We’ve made a huge step up from last year. We want to be competitive in each and every match this year and we know we’ve got a difficult draw. But we will see tomorrow where we are and how we’ve developed,” Marais said.
Leading them will be Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard who is itching to go after injury put him on the sidelines for a year.
Then there is the mouthwatering tussle of the second rows where the Bulls will be hoping that Springbok Lood de Jager and Springbok-in-waiting RG Snyman will outsmart, overpower and outplay the all-Bok lock duo of Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Another facet of play the Bulls will be desperate to dominate is the scrum and they might enjoy more grunt than the Stormers with Bok prop Trevor Nyakane anchoring their scrum at tighthead while the energy that loosehead Pierre Schoeman brings backed up by replacement
Lizo Gqoboka will make it
difficult for the Stormers to gain dominance in the set-piece.
It is in the set-piece that Marais feels the Stormers' fire can be extinguished and then the likes of Pollard, centre Burger Odendaal, wings Jamba Ulengo, Travis Ismaiel and fullback Jesse Kriel can run riot.
“They are always good
upfront and they are a physical side. But I’ve said that if you dominate the set-pieces you are in the running but if you let them dominate the set-pieces then it is going to be a long day for you.”
The Bulls have enough firepower on the bench to really set this encounter alight and for a change get their season off to a good start, in the process breaking a six-year losing streak at Newlands.
This is a battle the Bulls won’t want to lose because it will have far-reaching implications.
Bulls
Jesse Kriel, Jamba Ulengo, Dries Swanepoel, Burger Odendaal, Travis Ismaiel, Handré Pollard, Rudy Paige, Hanro Liebenberg, Jacques Potgieter, Nick de Jager, RG Snyman, Lood de Jager, Trevor Nyakane, Jaco Visagie, Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: Edgar Marutlelle, Jacobie Adriaanse, Lizo Gqoboka, Jason Jenkins, Ruan Steenkamp, Piet van Zyl, Tian Schoeman, Warrick Gelant