Bulls will be playing for pride when they face the Stormers

THE Bulls and Stormers may be sitting on opposite ends of the Super Rugby spectrum but they will go into this afternoon’s encounter at Loftus Versfeld with a common goal, victory.

The Stormers seek to have their troops battle-hardened and go into their quarter-final next weekend with some momentum, while the Bulls want to finish on a high after a dismal season.

The Stormers, though, hold the aces in what should be a relatively pedestrian win even though the Bulls have shown some fight of late.

However that might just not be enough to counter the confidence that the Stormers come into this encounter with, after putting away the Sunwolves and Cheetahs with ease in their past two matches.

For the Stormers this will be their last opportunity to ensure their abrasive pack of forwards, notably a dominant tight five, hone any chinks in their armour ahead of what will be a demanding play-off at Newlands.

While the Stormers scrum and lineouts have held their own against the best in the competition, they need to marry their setpiece superiority with the skills of their lethal backs, who often provide them with the muchneeded fatal blow.

The Cape side carry with them big guns in their Springbok-laden pack with the likes of Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter- Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi and Nizaam Carr needing to show their mettle and live up to their reputations.

But they will face a formidable foe in the Bulls pack, who have not fired at full blast this season, but have the talents of youngsters Coenraad van Vuuren, Jason Jenkins, RG Snyman, Shaun Adendorf and Jannes Kirsten – who on their day can box toe-to-toe with the best.

What will be of some concern to the Stormers is the danger the Bulls backs will pose, especially given time and space, and the tables could easily be turned on them if the likes of the in-form Jan Serfontein, Jesse Kriel, Warrick Gelant and Duncan Matthews get into the game.

But the Stormers would have learnt from last year’s embarrassing quarter- final defeat to the Chiefs and in this, their final dress rehearsal before confronting the knockout game, they will look to impose their eye- catching brand of rugby.

The fact of the matter is the Stormers go into this clash as the overwhelming favourites, but coach Robbie Fleck will want to see them live up to that tag on the field with the ruthlessness of a team that will be looking to live beyond next weekend in the competition.

On the other side, though, the Stormers will face an equally determined and emotionally charged Bulls outfit who will want to spark in their final outing after under-performing, and giving rise to the firing of coach Nollis Marais.

So it will be for their own pride and – to some extent the outgoing Marais – that the Bulls will put up their last fight of the season, and there is the small matter of Serfontein and flyhalf Tian Schoeman playing their last game for the franchise before heading off to France.