The Bulls will have to be at their best when they go head-to head with the Sharks in their United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

That was the word from the Pretoria-based outfit’s captain Ruan Nortje, who highlighted the importance of the mental and physical challenge which awaits his troops in the clash between two heavyweights of the South African game.

“When we reach the play-offs, we try to always get ourselves in the headspace of Test-match level preparation,” said the Springboks lock ahead of the eagerly anticipated encounter.

“We had the same mentality against Edinburgh, and it will be more of the same this weekend.

‘Derby just adds more fuel, excitement, and tension’

“The fact that it is a South African derby just adds more fuel, excitement, and tension. So, we have to ensure that we are mentally prepared and get our game plan ready for what awaits.”

Although the Bulls will be favourites to secure victory on their home turf, the Sharks head into this game with their tails up as they were victorious on both occasions when they faced Jake White’s troops during the league phase of the URC (20–17 in Durban last December and 29–19 in Pretoria in February).

Nortje spoke about areas of concern for his side and highlighted the Sharks’ impressive scrummaging efforts in their exciting quarter-final triumph over Munster in Durban.

Bulls get massive Johan Goosen boost for Sharks showdown

“The Sharks were definitely brilliant scrum-wise last weekend,” he said.

“I think that’s a massive part of what brought them through that game, so I must give them credit — the whole front-row. It’s definitely going to be a massive battle at the set-piece.

‘We must be composed’

“We can only prepare as well as we can and ensure we are ready when Saturday comes. We must be composed and make swift changes on the field — be ready for anything, and expect anything.

“We are blessed to play in another semi-final. We know there are a lot of other teams that would also want to be in this position, and that are capable of being in the semi-final.”

The 26-year-old praised the men from Durban’s resilience, which they displayed in last weekend’s penalty shootout victory over the Irish province.

“All around the park, they have amazing players. There are guys who have been around the block, guys you know will be there until the last minute,” added Nortje.

“They’ve been there and done that. Mentally, they are an extremely strong team, so we know that is going to be a massive battle.”

READ MORE: Wilco Louw identifies areas which will be crucial for Bulls in URC semi-final with Sharks

Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ruan-nortje-highlights-massive-battle-which-will-be-crucial-in-bulls-urc-semi-final-with-sharks