Bulls gear for the eye of Stormers
“THEY have Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, we have RG Snyman and Jason Jenkins.”
Bulls coach Nollis Marais elevated even further what promises to be an intense encounter by zeroing in on where the battle between his side and the Stormers would be won in their clash at Loftus tomorrow night.
The Stormers will again have their first-choice lock pair starting the match after Etzebeth was included in the team alongside Springbok partner Du Toit.
The Bulls also have a right to boast about their second row in Snyman and Jenkins.
“Those are the four best locks in South Africa going forward. I think RG and Jason have bright futures. It will be a great challenge for them this weekend, playing against certainly the best two locks in South Africa,” said Marais.
“If they [Snyman and Jenkins] want to be better for next season, this is the type of pressure they have to handle. The more they compete against the best, the better it is for them . . .”
Rewind 11 weeks, Snyman was making his Super Rugby debut and Jenkins was on the bench – also the first time he came into the Bulls picture – in that opening clash of the season between the two sides at Newlands.
In the same game, Etzebeth and Du Toit bossed the inexperienced Bulls side around the park.
“We have grown a lot since then – nine games down the line,” the Bulls coach highlighted.
“I think we have shown that we are now competitive in all departments.”
While the north versus south derby is always a heated encounter, it is Robbi Fleck’s Stormers that have enjoyed the upperhand in recent times.
Bulls captain Adriaan Strauss, said history and statistics would count for nought tomorrow.
“On the day history and stats don’t matter,” said Strauss.
“We want to do well at Loftus, we want to win here and make it a special stadium for us.
“It’s going to be a massive game. That is why you play rugby – you want to measure yourself against the big guns.”
The Stormers will want to improve from their 17-all stalemate against the Sunwolves last weekend in Singapore, while the Bulls – who remain unbeaten at their homeground – will be out to bounce back from their two consecutive defeats to the Brumbies and Waratahs. Bulls team: SP Marais; Jamba Ulengo, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Travis Ismaiel; Francois Brummer, Piet van Zyl; Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Lappies Labuschagne, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Lizo Gqoboka. Reserves: Jaco Visagie, Trevor Nyakane, Pierre Schoeman, Grant Hattingh, Deon Stegmann, Rudy Paige, Tian Schoeman, Dries Swanepoel. Stormers team: Cheslin Kolbe; Kobus van Wyk, Johnny Kotze, Damian de Allende, Leolin Zas; JeanLuc du Plessis, Nic Groom; Schalk Burger, Siya Kolisi, Nizaam Carr, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Oli Kebble. Reserves: Scarra Ntubeni, Alistair Vermaak, Vincent Koch, Rynardt Elstadt, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Louis Schreuder, Brandon Thomson, Huw Jones.