The Lions and Bulls will both be desperate for the win in their Jukskei derby as they look for a place in the URC top eight.
Lions captain Francke Horn says the Jukskei derby is set to be a desperate affair as they chase a United Rugby Championship (URC) double over the Bulls when they meet at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 2:30pm).
With the Lions chasing a first ever top eight finish in the URC, to qualify for the playoffs, they know a second straight win over the Bulls would be massive in securing their place in the top seven on the log and give them some breathing room from the chasing pack below them.
The Bulls however are currently ninth on the log after a difficult start to the season, and are desperate to get themselves into the top eight and try to cut the deficit to the top six sides, who have built a gap over the bottom 10 teams.
So for both teams it is an extremely important match, and they will be going all out to try and get the win over the other, while there will also be a bit of an edge after the Lions upset the Bulls 43-33 at Loftus earlier in the campaign.
“Both teams will be desperate and the Bulls will want to remind themselves of what happened a few months ago in our previous meeting,” admitted Horn.
“We’ll have to be ready for that, but we don’t want to focus too much on what they want to come and do. We want to dictate matters with our game plan, and I think fireworks can be expected.”
Bulls form
The Bulls head into the match in some good form after breaking a seven match losing run with two good away wins, against Pau in France in the Champions Cup, and against Edinburgh in Scotland in the URC a week ago.
The Lions by contrast battled to two away draws, against Perpignan in France and Ospreys in Wales, which were decent results in the extremely difficult conditions they played in, but could also be seen as opportunities lost as they had chances to win both games.
“Unfortunately, we had to settle for two draws on our tour. But despite those results, I believe we’ve still built good momentum over the last month’s matches and picked up important URC log points,” said Horn.
The Lions will also have to deal with a Springbok heavy Bulls team, featuring the likes of Handre Pollard, Elrigh Louw and Kurt-Lee Arendse, as well as a full Bok front row, but have named a strong team themselves, which should make for a cracking encounter.
“We are under no illusions about what kind of Bulls team will pitch up here at Ellis Park on Saturday. They’re boasting winning momentum again after their two victories in Europe,” said Horn.
