Marcell Coetzee says last year’s loss at Loftus Versfeld has shown that the Vodacom Bulls cannot afford to underestimate the Lions when they face their provincial neighbours on Saturday.

The Bulls will host the Lions in the first Jukskei Derby of the year, with provincial pride and a rise on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship table to play for.

Jake White’s side is currently five places ahead of the Lions, but only three points separate the two teams on the log.

In the previous meeting between the northern rivals, at Loftus in March 2023, the Lions stunned the home crowd by handing the heavily-favoured Bulls a 29-25 defeat.

“The Lions are a proud side. If there is one thing you don’t want to do, it’s to rile up another South African side,” Coetzee said.

“We learnt that mistake the hard way the last time we played against the Lions. You can’t afford to be complacent in this competition.

“We will give them the necessary respect. We know what they can bring. At the end of the day, it’s about who wants it most on the pitch.”

The Bulls are going into Saturday’s clash in a tidy bit of form, having secured a home Champions Cup play-off in a 12-try thriller against Bordeaux, which continued their unbeaten run at Loftus this season.

“That was a very important game for us, to make it through to the round of 16,” Coetzee said. “We maybe played a bit too much rugby in our own half. But that was because we knew we needed a bonus point to get a home playoff here at Loftus. If we improved our points difference, we could’ve finished top of our pool.

“As a team, we were always going for the big prize and maybe that played a bit of a role in our game management, where we played and where we attacked.

“At the end of the day, we are happy with where we are and we got what we wanted.”

While that win will give the Bulls plenty of confidence, Coetzee emphasised that it means very little when it comes to facing a South African rival.

“Local derbies are always tough and physical. It’s personal,” Coetzee said. “Playing European teams is one thing, but we in South Africa are proud people. We want to go out on the field and give our best, because of the respect we have for each other.

“I’m sure this weekend won’t be any different. What we’ve learnt in this competition is that you can’t start off well and then hit a slump of form and try to recover from that.

“The big one is not to be complacent. If you look at the statistics, we lost here the last time we played them.”