Cape Town - After their 20-14 loss to the Reds in Brisbane last weekend, few will be giving the Bulls any chance of causing an upset against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday.
The Bulls had held a 14-3 lead against the Reds but fell away badly as the match progressed, going scoreless in the second half.
They will have to be far better if they are to challenge the 2012 and 2013 champions on their home soil, but coach John Mitchell believes that they can get the job done.
The Bulls' only win so far this season came against New Zealand when they beat the Hurricanes in their season opener at Loftus.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for us playing the Chiefs in Hamilton," said Mitchell, who represented Waikato as a player.
"They have been one of the leading teams in the Super Rugby competition over the last couple of years and this is a massive step-up from where we were a year ago.
"We have definite plans on how to approach this match and how to try to beat the Chiefs. We will have to do a couple of things well to achieve that, including playing as a unit."
One boost for the Bulls is that they welcome back inside centre and captain Burger Odendaal.
"We are ready to go and show our abilities," Odendaal said.
"For us to win here, our courage and determination will be tested, but knowing this squad and the way we are developing as a group, I have enough confidence to know that we will be very competitive on Friday."
Friday's match kicks off at 08:35 (SA time).
Teams:
Chiefs
TBA
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Jason Jenkins/Tim Agaba, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Johnny Kotze