The Vodacom Bulls and Stormers clash in the last South African URC derby of the regular season at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, writes LINDIZ VAN ZILLA.
The two great north-south rivals go into the encounter in deeply contrasting form.
The Bulls are on a three-match winning run in the URC, with their last outing a hugely impressive 41-12 dismantling of the Sharks in Pretoria.
The Stormers are also on a three-match streak – but of the losing kind – and are desperately searching to rediscover their form from earlier in the season. Back-to-back defeats to the Sharks were followed two weeks ago by a dispiriting 24-10 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park.
Saturday’s clash at Loftus is a rescheduled round-eight fixture. The URC resumes with a full round of matches on the weekend of 20-22 March.
The Stormers are the best-placed South African team, sitting fifth (36 points), closely followed by the Lions in seventh (33), the Bulls in eighth (30) and Sharks in 11th (24).
The Loftus clash is, however, a game in hand, meaning the Stormers or Bulls could make a significant leap up the table with a winning points haul.
Three consecutive derby losses have seen the STORMERS plummet from the URC summit all the way down to fifth.
A pack which was dominant through the first eight rounds of the competition has struggled over the past month a half, and an attack which shredded defences before Christmas has suddenly spluttered badly.
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Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is among a number of key Stormers players looking to rediscover their spark and fans of the Cape team will hope time spent in the Bok environment will have had the desired effect.
If you were into sports betting, you wouldn’t bet against the BULLS right now.
Johan Ackermann’s charges are South Africa’s form team, having won four in a row across the URC and Investec Champions Cup. That was after a seven-match losing streak which had seen serious questions asked of the side from Pretoria.
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But it’s not just the wins, but rather the manner in which the Bulls are going about their business. First they destroyed their local rivals the Lions 52-17 at Ellis Park, then it was the turn of the Sharks to be pounded into the dust by a Bulls team on the stampede.
Can the Bulls make it three derby wins by beating the Stormers on Saturday?
Both teams had a large number of players attend the Springboks’ first alignment camp of the year in Cape Town (Bulls 15, Stormers 13) and it promises to be a clash of the heavyweights at 2pm on Saturday.
Players at Springbok alignment camp
Bulls: Johan Grobbelaar, Cameron Hanekom, Elrigh Louw, Wilco Louw, Siphosethu Mnebebele, Ruan Nortje, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden, Cobus Wiese, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Sebastian de Klerk, Cheswill Jooste, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard.
Stormers: Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Neethling Fouche, Frans Malherbe, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Salmaan Moerat, Riley Norton, Zachary Porthen, Evan Roos, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Markus Muller, Cobus Reinach, Damian Willemse.
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The post State of the URC: Snorting Bulls await Stormers appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
The Vodacom Bulls and Stormers clash in the last South African URC derby of the regular season at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The post State of the URC: Snorting Bulls await Stormers appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
