Bulls want to take the fight to Stormers

INTERVIEW: There is very little separating the Stormers and the Bulls, both in terms of their positions on the standings and the quality of their games.

The Stormers hold a slender, one-point lead over the Bulls as the sixth- and seventh-placed teams chase a top-four finish – which brings with it home ground advantage in the play-offs.

There is also very little to separate them in the other aspects of their games.

The Bulls sit third on the attack stats – with 388 points and 49 tries. The Stormers are sixth – 367 and 48.

Defence is equally tight, both with a tackle success rate of 88 percent.

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Both teams have also run into a rich vein of form – the Bulls have won their last five games and the Stormers four in succession.

That is why it is so tough to make a call on the big north-south derby this week, when the Stormers host the Bulls in Cape Town on Saturday.

Not surprising the Bulls’ talented young scrumhalf Keagan Johannes described their four remaining league fixtures as ‘finals’.

He admitted that, like the Bulls, the Stormers are playing “very good rugby”.

However, it is their ‘tactics’ that present the visitors from Pretoria with their biggest challenge.

“One of their strengths is that it seems they never set up a ruck,” Johannes, 22, told @rugby365com, when asked about Saturday’s big showdown.

“It looks like they keep the ball alive at all times.

“If we are able to slow down their ball and dominate them physically will stand us in good stead.

“They play a lot of running rugby, but we must not just think of what good things they can do.

“We are also playing good rugby at the moment and we also want to take the fight to them.”

The last time the two teams met in a URC clash was at Loftus Versfeld on January 22.

The Stormers upset the Bulls with a 30-26 win in Pretoria.

The Bulls are eager to get their own back in the shadow of Table Mountain.

“I won’t say we are looking for revenge,” Johannes said.

“It is always tough between the Bulls and the Stormers – it is a big derby.”

He said both teams are ambitious and “always striving for victory”.

“I would definitely say we owe them one.

“We have to win all of our games in the URC as well.

“We are in a good streak currently.

“However, every match is a Final now.

“These matches are must-wins if we are to get into the play-offs.

“We are just keeping our heads down and grafting hard,” the young scrumhalf added.

@king365ed
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