Bulls v Munster - Teams and Prediction
ROUND SIX RESCHEDULED: Out of the four South African franchises, the Bulls have the toughest task this weekend when they take on Munster in a United Rugby Championship Round Six clash in Pretoria on Saturday.
Munster will arrive at Loftus Versfeld following a 64-3 thumping of the Dragons last weekend, which continued a strong run of form.
The Irish province have lost one of their last seven matches, being pipped by Glasgow last month.
The Bulls will look to address patchy home form that has seen them lose three of the last four in all competitions.
“We want to try and play a certain way and we are getting there,” said Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White.
“We are slowly getting there. I think we are getting to the point we want to get to, but we are not quite the finished product yet.”
When asked about his unchanged starting XV for Saturday’s clash, White responded: “I don’t think you can react to every single team you play against.
“I think you got to focus on what you are good at and where you want to go as a team.
“At this point in time, all our focus is to get our team to play how we want to play. It doesn’t depend on the opposition.”
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White knows that his opponents will be brimming with confidence after last weekend’s win.
“I watched the game last week and they played really well,” White added.
“I think it was a record score they got at home and they will take a massive amount of confidence out of that game.
“Rugby is no different to any other sport. When you get a good win, you get nice confidence in the group.
“Although they are missing a few players, they got some incredible depth and they are one of the Irish sides that I always speak about.
“There whole structure from an Irish rugby point of view is very strong. You look at the four teams – Connacht, Ulster, Munster and Leinster – they are all near the top of the log so I’m sure that comes with the way they recruited.
“It comes with the way the Irish Rugby Union have helped them in making sure they get that calibre of player.
“We are going to have to play well to beat them.”
Meanwhile, Munster head coach Johann van Graan, who has included Springbok centre Damian de Allende on his bench for Saturday’s match, believes his side will be up against the best team in South Africa.
“In terms of the Bulls not a lot has changed – a team that we as a group respect,” said Van Graan.
“They are the Currie Cup champions and the best team in South Africa. A team that has played and won a lot of competitions over the last few years.
“They have an excellent coaching staff and then some very good players and they have played some pretty good rugby.
“Then on top of that you add a fantastic stadium, altitude and the heat, so it’s a massive challenge for us on Saturday.
“If you look at the URC, I think it is brilliant for the competition and it is certainly a game that we are looking forward to.
“It’s a franchise I personally respect a lot and it will certainly be a fierce battle between two very good teams I believe.”
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bulls by three points.
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Canan Moodie.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Neil Cronin, 8 Alex Kendellen, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Mark Donnelly, 18 John Ryan, 19 Eoin O’Connor, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Damian de Allende.
Date: Saturday, March 12
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 16.05 (14.05 UK & Ireland time; 14.05 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa); Griffon Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
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