Wellington - South Africa's unbeaten Bulls will break new ground when they meet the Highlanders at Palmerston North in the seventh round of the Super 14 on Saturday.
The match will be the first in Super rugby history to be played at a neutral venue within New Zealand, moved at the Highlanders' initiative in the hope of attracting a larger crowd.
Palmerston North hosted the first-ever Super 12 match, rugby's first fully professional contest, in 1996 and has hosted eight matches since as one of four home grounds used by the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes have not played in the North Island city since 2007 and the Highlanders have sought to capitalize on its proven appetite for Super 14 matches. Palmerston North has a large university campus and the Highlanders hope to attract a large number of students to the match, to build a target crowd of around 10,000.
The Bulls opened a five-match road trip with a 19-14 win over the Hurricanes last Friday, extending a six-week tenure at the top of the Super 14 table. They face matches against the Highlanders, Crusaders, Waratahs and Brumbies before returning to South Africa to play three of their last four matches at home.
The Bulls win over the Hurricanes was more comprehensive than the scoreline indicated but the Pretoria-based team remains unhappy with their form.
"The guys are not satisfied," assistant coach John McFarland said. "They know they can play better but they are hoping that they will take it from here and focus on the next four weeks.
"It is vital though that we don't get carried away and keep to our plans of playing week by week. We are generally pleased by our situation but there are a lot of banana skins ahead and other teams are finding their feet in the competition."
Flanker Deon Stegmann will miss the match after being suspended for three weeks for a dangerous tackle on Hurricanes centre Conrad Smith.
Talented hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle rejoins the Bulls on the bench for what is expected to be a tough forward battle. Ralepelle welcomed the use of a neutral venue for the match.
"The boys were saying they're very happy they don't have to go all the way down to Dunedin," he said.
"It's always tough playing in New Zealand. We find it hard to acclimatize. It's actually taken me longer than I thought it would."
The second-placed Sharks return to their home base at Durban on Saturday to host the Brumbies, after winning three of four matches in Australia and New Zealand. The Sharks will play six matches at home in the tournament's last eight rounds but coach John Plumtree has warned that is not in itself a winning formula.
"Yes, we have these six home games and it is going to be wonderful to play in front of our home fans, but home ground advantage hardly gives you the right to win," Plumtree said."
"The gap between the top sides is marginal and we have seen from our own experience that if you lose focus, you lose the match."
The Brumbies named their initial team late Wednesday in South Africa with Stirling Mortlock listed, but the Wallabies centre is only 50-50 to play because of a knee injury.
"Given he's such a quality footballer we'll give him up until the last hour," Brumbie’s coach Andy Friend said.
The third-placed Waratahs and fifth-placed Blues, both coming off sixth-round losses, open the seventh round at Auckland on Friday. The Waratahs will be boosted by the return of captain Phil Waugh from an Achilles tendon injury but flyhalf Kurtley Beale will miss the match with tonsillitis.
"Auckland's got a fine record there and there's a certain comfort in having a home game, but that's obviously not something we focus on," Waratahs coach Chris Hickey said.
Defending champions the Crusaders, who may have saved their season with last week's win over the Waratahs in Sydney, return home Saturday to host South Africa's Stormers at Christchurch. The Crusaders need to win again to lift themselves above seventh place on the championship table.
The Reds host the Chiefs, who thumped the Blues in round six, and South Africa's Lions meet the Hurricanes at Johannesburg.
South Africa's Cheetahs and Australia's Western Force have seventh-round byes.
Bulls:
15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Akona Ndungane, 13. Jaco Pretorius, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Gerhard van den Heever, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Fourie Du Preez (captain), 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Pedrie Wannenburg, 6. Dewald Johan Potgieter, 5. Danie Rossouw, 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Rayno Gerber, 2. Derick Kuun, 1. Gurthro Steenkamp
Replacements: 16. Chilliboy Ralepelle, 17. Werner Kruger, 18. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19. Jacques Burger, 20. Heini Adams, 21. Burton Francis, 22. JP Nel
The match will be the first in Super rugby history to be played at a neutral venue within New Zealand, moved at the Highlanders' initiative in the hope of attracting a larger crowd.
Palmerston North hosted the first-ever Super 12 match, rugby's first fully professional contest, in 1996 and has hosted eight matches since as one of four home grounds used by the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes have not played in the North Island city since 2007 and the Highlanders have sought to capitalize on its proven appetite for Super 14 matches. Palmerston North has a large university campus and the Highlanders hope to attract a large number of students to the match, to build a target crowd of around 10,000.
The Bulls opened a five-match road trip with a 19-14 win over the Hurricanes last Friday, extending a six-week tenure at the top of the Super 14 table. They face matches against the Highlanders, Crusaders, Waratahs and Brumbies before returning to South Africa to play three of their last four matches at home.
The Bulls win over the Hurricanes was more comprehensive than the scoreline indicated but the Pretoria-based team remains unhappy with their form.
"The guys are not satisfied," assistant coach John McFarland said. "They know they can play better but they are hoping that they will take it from here and focus on the next four weeks.
"It is vital though that we don't get carried away and keep to our plans of playing week by week. We are generally pleased by our situation but there are a lot of banana skins ahead and other teams are finding their feet in the competition."
Flanker Deon Stegmann will miss the match after being suspended for three weeks for a dangerous tackle on Hurricanes centre Conrad Smith.
Talented hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle rejoins the Bulls on the bench for what is expected to be a tough forward battle. Ralepelle welcomed the use of a neutral venue for the match.
"The boys were saying they're very happy they don't have to go all the way down to Dunedin," he said.
"It's always tough playing in New Zealand. We find it hard to acclimatize. It's actually taken me longer than I thought it would."
The second-placed Sharks return to their home base at Durban on Saturday to host the Brumbies, after winning three of four matches in Australia and New Zealand. The Sharks will play six matches at home in the tournament's last eight rounds but coach John Plumtree has warned that is not in itself a winning formula.
"Yes, we have these six home games and it is going to be wonderful to play in front of our home fans, but home ground advantage hardly gives you the right to win," Plumtree said."
"The gap between the top sides is marginal and we have seen from our own experience that if you lose focus, you lose the match."
The Brumbies named their initial team late Wednesday in South Africa with Stirling Mortlock listed, but the Wallabies centre is only 50-50 to play because of a knee injury.
"Given he's such a quality footballer we'll give him up until the last hour," Brumbie’s coach Andy Friend said.
The third-placed Waratahs and fifth-placed Blues, both coming off sixth-round losses, open the seventh round at Auckland on Friday. The Waratahs will be boosted by the return of captain Phil Waugh from an Achilles tendon injury but flyhalf Kurtley Beale will miss the match with tonsillitis.
"Auckland's got a fine record there and there's a certain comfort in having a home game, but that's obviously not something we focus on," Waratahs coach Chris Hickey said.
Defending champions the Crusaders, who may have saved their season with last week's win over the Waratahs in Sydney, return home Saturday to host South Africa's Stormers at Christchurch. The Crusaders need to win again to lift themselves above seventh place on the championship table.
The Reds host the Chiefs, who thumped the Blues in round six, and South Africa's Lions meet the Hurricanes at Johannesburg.
South Africa's Cheetahs and Australia's Western Force have seventh-round byes.
Bulls:
15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Akona Ndungane, 13. Jaco Pretorius, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Gerhard van den Heever, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Fourie Du Preez (captain), 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Pedrie Wannenburg, 6. Dewald Johan Potgieter, 5. Danie Rossouw, 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Rayno Gerber, 2. Derick Kuun, 1. Gurthro Steenkamp
Replacements: 16. Chilliboy Ralepelle, 17. Werner Kruger, 18. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19. Jacques Burger, 20. Heini Adams, 21. Burton Francis, 22. JP Nel