Ken Borland

The Bulls and the Stormers are the two leading sides in the South African SuperRugby Conference and are age-old rivals, so it will be a titanic clash when they meet at Newlands on Saturday, with the Bulls expecting a ferocious contest up front as they go in search of revenge for the 29-17 hammering they suffered at the hands of the Capetonians at Loftus Versfeld on the opening weekend of the season.

“It’s going to be another tough South African derby and it’s nice that it’s such an important game. They came here and won and hopefully we can do the same down there. It’s important that we play for the full 80 minutes, we have to be consistent and use our opportunities well,” Bulls captain Pierre Spies said in Pretoria this week.

“The Stormers are very direct, they work hard on the gain-line and the game is going to be decided up front, whoever can get a solid base up there will be on the front foot. The gain-line is going to be crucial because that’s where the penalties and the line-breaks happen. And the team that keeps their discipline best normally comes out on top,” coach Frans Ludeke added.

Apart from the SA Conference lead being up for grabs, what makes the match so mouthwatering are the head-to-head clashes in this World Cup year – Marcel van der Merwe v Steven Kitshoff, Flip van der Merwe v Eben Etzebeth, Spies v Duane Vermeulen, Jan Serfontein v Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel v Cheslin Kolbe.

“Those will definitely spice up the game, even though we’re not thinking about the World Cup now. It’s always there though in the background and this might be the last time we play each other before then. We don’t try to get involved in personal battles, but the media sets the table for us, it’s always there,” Spies said.

The Bulls and the Stormers are also like peas in a pod in the way they have evolved since that opening encounter on Valentine’s Day.

As Stormers’ coach Allister Coetzee pointed out this week, Jesse Kriel has started in place of Jurgen Visser at fullback since then and has changed the shape of the Bulls’ attack.

The Bulls’ scrum is also likely to be a harder nut to crack than it was that day at Loftus Versfeld, with the two Van der Merwe’s back and Trevor Nyakane full of confidence and ready to come off the bench and make an impact.

“We lost Werner Kruger in the first three minutes of that game and Trevor was thrown into the deep end at tighthead. But I felt we finished the scrums well, we battled through. But that game is in the past, we’ve improved a lot and we are definitely a different side compared to then. A lot of players have come back from injury and we definitely have a more all-round game,” Ludeke said.

The Stormers have switched to a more pragmatic approach after three successive losses to New Zealand teams, being more patient in terms and when and where to attack and it has borne fruit with victories over the Waratahs and the Force on tour.

But for all the backline brilliance both teams will bring to Newlands, the real battle will be underground in the trenches up front.

The Bulls pack may well have come of age in their 17-13 victory over the Stormers in their SuperRugby match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, with coach Nollis Marais rating it as their best performance of the season.

The Bulls dominated the scrums, constantly hassled the Stormers’ lineout and were absolutely immense in defending the gainline, all this against a pack with half-a-dozen Springboks including Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth in the engine room.

“I think it was our best performance, especially after our big defeat to them in the first round. We are so young up front, but the guys manned up well. Jannes Kirsten has been good all season – sometimes I think he’s confused as to just how good he is, RG Snyman and Jason Jenkins were playing against guys that are going to the Springbok squad and they really kept them on their toes. They showcased how good they are tonight and all credit to them because they came out and played in a high-pressure match against a team that was very hard off the line,” Marais said.

Having lost the gainline battle in their two previous games against the Brumbies and Waratahs, Marais said his team had learnt how quickly one needs to come off the line in SuperRugby.

“The big thing against the Brumbies and the Waratahs was that we gave them the gainline. They came hard off the line at us and we learnt and showed better speed in defence today. You need a good attack and defence to win and all credit to coach Pine Pienaar for the defence tonight,” Marais said.

Stormers coach Robbie Fleck also praised the redoubled efforts of the Bulls’ defensive line.

“You have to give credit to the Bulls’ defence, they worked incredibly hard. We were retaining possession so they were under pressure, but they did incredibly well, slowing us down at the ruck so we never had any quick ball and we couldn’t raise the tempo.

“They brought us down to their pace, which didn’t suit us, it became a set-piece battle, which we didn’t want. We wanted a quick, open game. But you also have to credit the Bulls’ set-pieces – they contested and had our lineout under pressure, so we couldn’t launch from there, and they won penalties at scrum-time. You need to dominate the set-piece in a tight game,” Fleck said.

You could not have hoped for a much better workout at the start of the season than the Springboks enjoyed in their 44-10 victory over Italy at Kings Park in Durban.

Some top-class attacking play led to five tries and even the defence was subjected to a stern examination in the second and third quarters, with the Italians only managing to score one try despite enjoying the vast majority of possession.

While a handful of debutants made exciting starts to their international careers, it was a veteran in the form of Bryan Habana who stole the limelight with a magnificent performance.

He scored a great individual try in the 67^th minute as the Springboks, unusually for them, threw turnover ball wide more in hope than expectation, but Habana turned on the afterburners and raced through half the Italian side as the hosts finally shifted the momentum after half an hour of defending.

While Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer rightfully pointed to a slackening in the intensity of the defence, credit must also be given to Italy for finally putting a premium on possession and hanging on to the ball for long periods.

They enjoyed an astonishing 97% of possession in the first nine minutes of the second half but, even with Bjorn Basson in the sin-bin for a high tackle, they could only cross the tryline once, through centre Alberto Sgarbi from close range.

But the Springboks had attacking firepower aplenty in their backline, with debutant scrumhalf Jano Vermaak providing crisp service, JJ Engelbrecht impressing with his pace and direct running at outside centre and new fullback Willie le Roux showing some lovely touches.

But as Meyer said afterwards, it was the pace – displayed especially by wings Habana and Basson – that had most pleased him.

“I was very happy with the guys and thought they played well. Willie le Roux showed a lot of pace, and so did JJ and Bjorn Basson. It’s great to have extra pace out wide, and I think Bryan Habana fed off that,” Meyer said.

As the Rugby Championship looms, it is encouraging to see the Springboks fielding a back three that can match the All Blacks, who are always the benchmark when it comes to counter-attacking rugby.

Habana was particularly potent as a counter-attacking force off several stupid kicks by the Italians, and it was his sheer pace after fielding an errant kick that set up Engelbrecht for his 23^rd-minute try.

It also helps when your flyhalf has as prodigious a boot as Morné Steyn, who kicked immaculately to collect 19 points through five conversions and three penalties. The massive clearing kick he unleashed in the 64^th minute also broke the shackles and led directly to the penalty that captain Jean de Villiers said had been the turning point of the second half.

Meyer wants to give game time to as many of his squad as possible in this quadrangular series, but he also has to ensure the momentum gained in Durban is not disrupted.

“I want to try a few guys so there will be a few changes for next week but I will try and keep the core of the team together,” said Meyer.

The loss of Vermaak with a torn hamstring is a blow after his encouraging start, and Piet van Zyl, one of the stars of the Cheetahs team, has been called up. Ruan Pienaar, who came off the bench in Durban, is the obvious man to start against Scotland in Nelspruit next weekend, but whether Meyer will utilise the game-breaking skills of Francois Hougaard as the replacement scrumhalf remains to be seen. The media speculation about his role in the Oscar Pistorius case must be weighing heavily on the young man’s mind.

Scotland succumbed to the huge physicality of the Samoans in losing 17-27 in the early game at King’s Park and the bad news for them is that they can expect more of the same from the Springboks.

With the added threat of clinical finishing, thanks to all that pace out wide to make use of the front-foot ball.

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The sands of time have moved quickly at Loftus Versfeld this year and Bulls coach Nollis Marais is already deep into his planning for the new SuperRugby season early next year.

While he confirmed that he is still having “on-going negotiations” with a couple of players with a view to luring them to Loftus Versfeld, Marais said he believes he already has the bulk of the players he needs; it’s just that their talents have previously been buried.

“We will add on a bit to the Currie Cup side and I’m busy working on that, talking to a couple of guys, but we’ve got the players, we just need to develop them. The skills aren’t good enough and there will be a huge emphasis on that. Before I do any game plan, I need to know the execution will be there, so the skills and conditioning need to be better, that’s going to be a huge drive for me,” Marais said.

The newly-appointed SuperRugby coach has his eye on forwards in the main in terms of acquisitions, because with the players at Loftus Versfeld already, the Bulls should have a very exciting backline next year.

“I’ve come a long way with Handre Pollard, we won the Varsity Cup together at Tuks, and he’s an excellent player. I met with him last weekend before he left for Japan and with the way we want to play in future and the way the game is developing, he’s going to have a massive role to play because he’s a brilliant flyhalf. He just needs some freedom around a few things.

“I was the first to try Jesse Kriel at centre, because I rated Duncan Matthews as a very good fullback and they turned an U21 final for me. So we have Duncan and Warrick Gelant at 15, who are both good young fullbacks, and Jesse Kriel can play both, but I like him at 13,” Marais said.

Adding to the backline riches are Springboks Rudi Paige and Bjorn Basson, while in midfield, Marais has tough choices to make at inside centre between Burger Odendaal, Jan Serfontein and Dries Swanepoel.