Champions Cup, Round Four - Teams and Predictions
FRIDAY PREVIEW: It’s all to play for in the final round of the Champions Cup pool stage as the Bulls look to sneak into the top four and earn a slot in the Round of 16.
The Bulls are currently in sixth place in Pool 4 of the Champions Cup, but they’re not out of the race just yet.
Whilst champions Bordeaux Bègles, Bristol Bears and Northampton Saints ensured qualification, the battle for the fourth and final spot between Section Paloise, Scarlets and the Bulls is tight, with the French outfit in the driver’s seat in fourth position.
A win for the Bulls and denying Section Paloise any points could see them take the fourth qualifying slot, depending on the result between Northampton Saints and Scarlets on Sunday.
The consolation prize for the Bulls would be to end fifth and secure a spot for the Challenge Cup Round of 16.
However, Bulls head coach Johan Ackermann has been cautious not to put the cart before the horse and said that his team will focus on the process and their opponents this weekend before thinking about qualifying for the knockouts.
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“We haven’t really spoken about scenarios like permutations on what we have to do and what the outcomes could be,” Ackermann told @Rugby365.
“The general talk is that we need to start playing for 80 minutes and performing as a team, and live up to the standards and values we set out at the beginning of the season.
“Our values, our accountability towards our sponsors, supporters and the jersey. It’s more about focussing on what we need to do now.
“The big thing is, there is already pressure on us. We are not blind to that, so that sometimes takes away the enjoyment of doing what you love.
“If you listen to every sportsperson, they’ll always say ‘never forget why you’re doing something and what is your why’, if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, then you’re in the wrong business, otherwise, how are you getting out of bed?
“For us, we know we have a responsibility to put in a performance, and if we’re not controlling the moment, then why are we here? We should stay in that process.
“If we focus on permutations, then you take away the things you can control and just add to the pressure.
“In a nutshell, we just want to take this game minute by minute, and we will play it from the kick-off and hopefully put in a better performance than last week.
“And if we get the result, so be it. If we progress in either of those competitions, then we’ll give ourselves a chance when that opportunity comes before going into the URC [United Rugby Championship] again with the same mindset of not looking forward too far ahead but staying focussed on the next challenge.”
Ackermann made an interesting bench selection, consisting of a six-two (forward-heavy) split, with Springbok Marco van Staden listed in the No.16 jumper, which is primarily for the replacement hooker.
The Bulls mentor explained the reasoning behind Van Staden’s selection and the benefits of having him come off the bench in whichever capacity he might be required.
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“We know Marco’s ability as a back rower, and he’s proven that he can do it at hooker.
“It’s always tough for a player to play hooker if he hasn’t done it before, but we also have Jan-Hendrik Wessels there as well, so we effectively have three hookers that can do the job.
“We wanted to give Akker [van der Merwe] more game time. He’s only played off the bench in most games.
“If he’s going to play 60 minutes, we can get 20 minutes out of Marco [van Staden] or Jan-Hendrik [Wessels]. If we get 70 or 80 [minutes] out of him, we can use Marco as a flanker; that was the thinking behind it.
“It’s going to be a physical game. They [Section Paloise] maul a lot and play a lot with their forwards.
“They also kick a lot in behind you, where your forwards have work back constantly. We thought that the match being a 21.00 [local time] kick-off, the ball would be a bit slippery, and we could go on to replace six forwards, which is basically the whole pack.
“And we can decide whether we will use Marco as a back rower, which gives us the option to replace the whole loose trio or whether he needs to play hooker. We’ve got the trust that he can do the job for us; that was the thinking behind it”
The other Friday night fixture sees the battle of the top two teams in Pool 2 between Bath and Edinburgh.
It’s a tightly contested pool with neither team having secured qualification for the Round of 16 as of yet, but a win for either side would secure them a spot in the knockouts.
Hot on their heels are Toulon, Munster, Gloucester and Castres, with merely six points separating the latter from the top-placed Bath.
See below for Friday’s teams and predictions!
Section Paloise v Bulls
(Stade du Hameau, Pau – Kick-off: 21.00 CET 20.00 GMT; 22.00 SA time)
Prediction
Rugby365: Section Paloise by 10 points
Teams
Section Paloise: 15 Jack Maddocks, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Nathan Decron, 12 Quentin Valentino, 11 Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, 10 Clément Mondinat, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Loic Credoz, 6 Luke Whitelock (captain), 5 Jimi Maximin, 4 Hugo Auradou, 3 Guram Papidze, 2 Lucas Rey, 1 Daniel Bibi Biziwu
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Remi Seneca, 18 Thomas Laclayat, 19 Thomas Jolmes, 20 Remi Picquette, 21 Facundo Isa, 22 Thomas Souverbie, 23 Fabien Brau-Boirie
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Sebastian de Klerk, 12 Harold Voster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Alu Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 David Kriel, 23 Jeandre Rudolph
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), George Selwood (England)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Bath v Edinburgh
(Recreation Ground, Bath – Kick-off: 20.00 GMT)
Prediction
Rugby365: Bath by 15 points
Teams
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell,9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Ross Molony, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Cameron Redpath
Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 James Lang, 11 Malelili Satala, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (captain), 8 Ben Muncaster, 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Glen Young, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Mikey Jones, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Euan McVie, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Jack Brown
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Franco Rosella (Italy), Luca Bisetto (Italy)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
