Share

Bulls geared for derby - Spies

Pretoria - Bulls captain Pierre Spies believes his players are geared up and ready for their north-south derby against the Stormers here on Saturday.

"It's a tough task playing against the Stormers, but we are glad that we are playing at home and we will be throwing all of our energy toward a good result this weekend," Spies said on Wednesday.

"We knew this derby was waiting for us. Stormers-Bulls games are always filled with hype, so this weekend is set up for another match like that."

The Bulls arrived back from their three-week tour of Australasia earlier in the week and now shift their attention to their last match of the Super Rugby series before the international break, when the Springboks take on England.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said they were happy to be home from a tough overseas leg but warned that the Stormers would offer another gruelling encounter as top spot in the SA conference was up for grabs on Saturday.

"If we follow our processes and execute well we will get a good result, but the Stormers are winning and they are a difficult outfit home or away," Ludeke said.

"They are top of the conference, they play winning rugby and that's what you want to do at the end of the day.

"For us, that is what we are after. We know we need to be accurate and we need to play for 80 minutes."

Spies echoed Ludeke's comments, adding that the Bulls would need to be more diligent in closing out matches.

"It's to keep your concentration for 80 minutes. Sometimes a game goes a certain way and you have to adapt to that," he said.

"It's about how you react to difficult situations. We are on course, but we need to concentrate for the full game."

Ludeke made two changes to the team that lost to the Chiefs in Hamilton last week, calling up Juandré Kruger as a replacement for Wilhelm Steenkamp, who drops to the bench, while JJ Engelbrecht is in for Johann Sadie, who drops out of the match 22 altogether.

"Johann Sadie is struggling with a hamstring injury," Ludeke said.

"But we are using a group rotation system so we had a good think about it and decided to leave him out this week."

Teams:

Bulls:


15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 CJ Stander, 6 Dewald Potgieter, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouché, 22 Francois Venter

Stormers:

15. Gio Aplon, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean de Villiers (captain), 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Jebb Sinclair, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. De Kock Steenkamp, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Deon Carstens

Substitutes: 16. Deon Fourie, 17 Brok Harris, 18. Quinn Roux, 19. Don Armand, 20. Nick Fenton-Wells, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Burton Francis

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2243 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE