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WP to target Bulls up front

Cape Town - Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has made no secret of the fact that they will aim to take on the Blue Bulls up front, hence the inclusion of five forwards on their substitutes bench.

Province travel to Pretoria to take on their arch-rivals in a crucial Currie Cup encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Despite the Bulls playing a more expansive game of late - especially under new coach Pine Pienaar - Coetzee believes they still need to be targeted up front.

"We will play against nine Springboks, of whom five are forwards. It doesn't matter what rugby the Bulls play nowadays - the game is won up front," Coetzee told Die Burger newspaper.

And the coach is confident his charges possess the necessary firepower to outplay their bitter rivals.

"We have thus chosen a pack that I believe will be able to stand their ground.

"And with dynamic players like Deon Fourie, Siya Kolisi and Nizaam Carr on the bench, we will be assured of an immediate impact later in the second half," said Coetzee.

While confident his men will be ready for the physical tussle, he expects the same intense effort from the men from Pretoria.

He believes the inclusion of loose forward Jacques Potgieter sends a clear message of the Bulls' tactics.

"Between him (Potgieter), CJ Stander and Dewald Potgieter, the Bulls have exceptional ball-carriers whom are also more than capable on the ground.

"Don't make a mistake, the Bulls are a proud team and they will make things very tough for us," said Coetzee.

The game at Loftus kicks-off at 17:05 on Saturday.

Teams:

Blue Bulls:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Frans Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouch, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Dewald Potgieter, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Jurgen Visser

Western Province:

15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Ismael Dollie, 9 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Tertius Daniller, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg (captain), 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Nizaam Carr, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Quinn Roux, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Berton Klaasen

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