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Cape Town - Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter says their Super Rugby clash against the Sharks is likely to go down to the wire.
Since 1996, the two teams have played each other 21 times, with the Bulls winning 11 to the Sharks' eight with two draws. The overall points difference is 1.94, with the Bulls winning five times at Loftus and six times at Kings Park.
These stats show that home ground advantage doesn't really play that big a part when these foes square off, and therefore Potgieter expects nothing different when they lock horns at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
"It could be another one of those tough matches on Saturday," he told the Beeld website.
"Traditionally we just play well against each other. The points difference is always small. Statistics may say that there is a win here (Pretoria) and a win there (Durban), which leads to people making conclusions, but the matches have always been so tough that it could go either way towards the end.
"I expect Saturday to be the same. We will only focus on what we've seen from them and what we know. The Sharks have a very strong pack and it's a good opportunity for us to lift our play in one or two areas so we can see where we are.
"We know what to expect from them. And they know what to expect from us.
"We'll really have to focus on the small things in order to win this one," concluded Potgieter.
Kick-off at Loftus is at 19:15 on Saturday.
Teams:
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip vd Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Jurgen Visser, 22 Morné Mellet
Sharks:
TBA
Since 1996, the two teams have played each other 21 times, with the Bulls winning 11 to the Sharks' eight with two draws. The overall points difference is 1.94, with the Bulls winning five times at Loftus and six times at Kings Park.
These stats show that home ground advantage doesn't really play that big a part when these foes square off, and therefore Potgieter expects nothing different when they lock horns at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
"It could be another one of those tough matches on Saturday," he told the Beeld website.
"Traditionally we just play well against each other. The points difference is always small. Statistics may say that there is a win here (Pretoria) and a win there (Durban), which leads to people making conclusions, but the matches have always been so tough that it could go either way towards the end.
"I expect Saturday to be the same. We will only focus on what we've seen from them and what we know. The Sharks have a very strong pack and it's a good opportunity for us to lift our play in one or two areas so we can see where we are.
"We know what to expect from them. And they know what to expect from us.
"We'll really have to focus on the small things in order to win this one," concluded Potgieter.
Kick-off at Loftus is at 19:15 on Saturday.
Teams:
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip vd Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Jurgen Visser, 22 Morné Mellet
Sharks:
TBA
