Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber is preparing his troops for a massive challenge against the Bulls in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Irish province head into this highly anticipated encounter sitting pretty at the top of the URC standings with 57 points amassed from 12 matches played with defending champions Glasgow Warriors and Bulls in second and third positions respectively a whopping 13 and 16 points adrift.

Leinster occupy top spot thanks to their outstanding URC form where they have won all 12 of their matches played so far in the competition, but Nienaber knows his side will have to be at their best against a Bulls team who seldom play poorly on their home turf.

The URC’s table-toppers consolidated their position at the summit with a 42-24 victory over Cardiff at the beginning of this month.

Poor record in South Africa

In the past, Leinster have not fielded their strongest teams when visiting South Africa and they have only won one out of seven matches played in the country.

Leinster are unsure who of their large contingent of players who represented Ireland during the Six Nations will be available for Saturday’s clash, although Nienaber said they should know by the end of the week which of those players they can select.

If those Test stars are unavailable, Leinster will be in danger of suffering their first URC defeat – against the Bulls – which is the first of a two-match tour in South Africa with the Sharks, who are fourth on the table, still lying in wait.

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“It will be a proper Test match for us,” said Nienaber. “It is a nice challenge for whoever is going to participate in these two matches.”

Although the Bulls are without some injured players, Nienaber expects Leinster to face a stern challenge at Loftus Versfeld this weekend.

“If you look at the squad Jake [White] has built, I mean it’s a full-on international squad barring one or two positions,” he said.

‘I expect a Test-match intensity game’

“And those one or two positions are not far — they are on the radar of international selectors. I expect a Test-match intensity game.”

Nienaber, who joined Leinster shortly after guiding the Springboks during their victorious 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign in France, believes all four South African teams are good enough to qualify for the URC play-offs.

Apart from the Bulls and Sharks being amongst the tournament’s frontrunners, the Lions are currently in ninth position with 29 points while the Stormers are in 12th spot just a point adrift.

“I expect all four of those teams to participate in the top eight,” added the 52-year-old. “Currently, it looks like they are on track for that.”

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/jacques-nienaber-expecting-test-match-intensity-in-bulls-clash-after-jake-white-built-full-on-international-squad