Bulls to face Stormers in Paarl warm-up match before URC campaign
The Bulls will get one final test before their URC campaign begins, with Johan Ackermann confirming a pre-season clash against the Stormers in September.
Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann has confirmed his side will face the Stormers in a warm-up match in Paarl next month.
Ackermann was speaking after the Bulls’ 50-19 defeat by the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld last night (August 15), with the encounter effectively serving as an early pre-season hit-out for the Pretoria-based side.
The Bulls begin their 2026/27 URC campaign against Zebre in Parma on September 26.
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“”Before the URC kicks off, we’ve only got one warm-up game and that’s against the Stormers on September 11 down in Paarl where the schools play their derby [Faure Street Stadium],” Ackermann said.
“The boys have got a week off now and then we’re back, and then there’s, I think, three weeks before we play the Stormers and then there’s one week of fine-tuning and then into the URC.
“We obviously fly over on the Tuesday before we play Zebre and then it’s Zebre and Munster.
“So we’ve got a few weeks to get the guys ready.
“We’ll take a lot out of this game and work on that, but there are also one or two things we want to add in the next couple of weeks.
“The main priority will be our conditioning, to get our conditioning sorted.”
“So we’ve got a few weeks to get the guys ready.
“We’ll take a lot out of this game and work on that, but there are also one or two things we want to add in the next couple of weeks.
“The main priority will be our conditioning, to get our conditioning sorted.”
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Ackermann believes the encounter against the All Blacks will ultimately prove beneficial for his team.
“I know I said it disrupted our pre-season, but after tonight I do know that we’ll take a lot out of the game in terms of what we can work on.
“As coaches, we’re excited about what we saw, and it’s great for the players to now know what it takes to play at that level.
“It’s an experience I think they’ll keep forever.”
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The post Stormers, Bulls set for pre-season clash appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
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