As far as URC fixtures go, this weekend’s intense duel between the Bulls and Stormers in Pretoria is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the season.
This will mark the last local derby for the third-placed Bulls (on 40 log points) and the 10th-placed Stormers (24 points), and the home side will certainly have an extra incentive as they set their sights on beating the Sharks to the SA Shield if they can finish the group stage as the leading SA Side.
Jake White’s team would put one hand on the SA Shield if they can come away with a bonus-point victory. As is stands, the men from Pretoria (16 points) currently lead the Sharks and Stormers with two points (both on 14) on the South African log, but the men from Durban have a game in hand.
YOU CAN FOLLOW THE LIVE SCORING IN THE BULLS-STORMERS URC BATTLE BELOW:
Bulls v Stormers
Date: Saturday, 1 March
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
SA Time: 17:00
Referee: Griffin Colby
TV: SuperSport
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Jan Hendrik Wessels, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Sergeal Petersen.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Jonathan Roche.
The Bulls will be relying on their passionate home crowd to lift them as they prepare to face their arch-rivals the Stormers in a classic North-South battle at Loftus Versfeld.
Meanwhile, the men from Cape Town will certainly want to make amends for their heart-breaking 33-32 defeat against the same opponents two weeks ago at the DHL Stadium.
Jake White’s charges – who have never beaten the Stormers twice in one season – may enter the clash with a mental edge given that their attacking and defensive statistics are better, with 300 points scored to 253 by the Stormers and 230 points conceded to the visitors’ 277.
However they will be mindful of that that statistics will have little significance after the intense battle that unfolded between the sides only two weeks ago.
WHAT IS YOUR SCORE PREDICTION?
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Src: TheSouthAfrican.com - https://rugga.co.za/bulls/urc-live-scoring-bulls-v-stormers/
