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Spies dismisses Stormers' title

Cape Town - Bulls captain Pierre Spies says they're not interested in winning the trophy the Stormers bagged in 2011.

The Stormers broke their trophy drought last season when they won the South African conference - for finishing as the top local team.

"The reason you want to finish on top in this series is to win the real thing," Spies told the Beeld newspaper.

Spies believes the round-robin phase is to play for a home semi-final and final, not for a trophy.

"That other cup (trophy) isn't very high on our agenda and I don't think the other teams' players care that much for it as well."

However, Bulls coach Frans Ludeke insisted that they haven't turned a blind eye to the Stormers' performance last season.

"They were the top South African team and we respect that. It spurs us on, but we want to get rid of the emotions for this one. It's about the team with the plan."

Ludeke feels the intensity in contact and the fight on the advantage line will be of key importance come Saturday.

"The Stormers defend really well, like they showed against the Lions.

"A good start will help, but we'll have to be accurate for 80 minutes if we want to win."

He doesn't expect bonus points in this derby clash.

"The result is all that matters and I'll be happy to win ugly," said Ludeke.

The clash at Newlands kicks-off at 19:10 on Saturday.

Teams:

Stormers:
15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever

Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard , 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 CJ Stande, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouche, 22 JJ Engelbrecht
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