Cape Town - Stormers forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot believes young Bulls prop Morné Mellett will have a "tough task" at his hands in their opening Super Rugby clash at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

Loosehead prop Mellett, 23, will make his Super Rugby debut against Springbok Pat Cilliers, with the Capetonians likely to bring on Frans Malherbe in the second half to increase the pressure on Mellett. Cilliers could then shift to the loosehead side.

"Both teams followed the same route by picking a tighthead on the bench. Mellett's workload will be massive," Proudfoot told Die Burger's website.

The Bulls picked Frik Kirsten as tighthead on the bench which makes it important for Mellett to pass the test at loosehead.

However, Proudfoot did acknowledge that they will nevertheless still be up against a formidable Bulls front row.

"The nice thing for Mellett is that he will find himself next to two Springboks in Werner Kruger and Chiliboy Ralepelle. He will be highly motivated to prove a point."

The derby kicks off at 19:10 on Friday.

Teams:

Bulls:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Morné Mellett

Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouchè, 22 Francois Venter

Stormers:

15. Jaco Taute, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Jean de Villiers (captain), 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. De Kock Steenkamp, 3. Pat Cilliers, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. Frans Malherbe, 18. Don Armand, 19. Nizaam Carr, 20. Dewaldt Duvenage, 21. Gerhard van den Heever, 22. Joe Pietersen