Benetton vs Bulls

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 15: Stravino Jacobs of the Bulls during the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA match between Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on May 15, 2021 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA Round 5 Preview – Bulls vs Stormers

PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA Round 5 Preview – Bulls vs Stormers.

Benetton vs Bulls

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 15: Stravino Jacobs of the Bulls during the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA match between Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on May 15, 2021 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

Bulls vs Stormers: The Bulls remain in pole position to advance to the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup Final ahead of their fifth round clash with the second-place team. 

Springbok loose forward Marcell Coetzee will earn his first cap for the Bulls on Friday, when the log leaders clash with the second-placed Stormers.

Last time out

The action resumes in Gauteng this weekend after a bye week, with the Stormers and the Lions having turned the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA upside down as the bottom two beat the top two in the previous round.

John Dobson’s Stormers made it back-to-back away victories as they saw off the Sharks to go second while the Lions served up a first defeat of the campaign for the Bulls.

However, the men from Pretoria have a four-point advantage over their Cape rivals and the Durbanites with just two rounds remaining, while the team from Johannesburg are seven points adrift.

The Bulls saw their 100% start to the competition come to an end with a thrilling 34-33 defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg. However, they have a formidable record at Loftus Versfeld, having won 13 on the trot since losing to the Jaguares in February 2020.

After starting with back-to-back defeats, including a 20-16 loss to the Bulls in Cape Town, the Stormers are now attempting to register three successive wins for the first time since February 2020.

What they said

Stormers head coach John Dobson said that his team will need to execute their skills as accurately as possible to get the result they need.

“We know that it will take a clinical performance to get the win on Friday and we are up for the challenge,” said Dobson. “We want to push ourselves to deliver our best rugby for the full 80 minutes as we know that we are an even better team than we have shown in this competition.”

Jake White, the Bulls Director of Rugby, cautioned his side on what to expect from the DHL Stormers: “The loss against the Lions put things into perspective as we cannot afford even one slip up in terms of the log. We need to make amends for it and there’s not many things tougher than a classic North-South derby.”

PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA Round 5 Preview – Bulls vs Stormers teams

Bulls: 15 David Kriel, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Schalk Erasmus, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Gio Aplon.

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 David Meihuizen, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements (from): 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Dan du Plessis, 23 Sergeal Petersen, 24 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 25 Juarno Augustus.

Match information – Bulls vs Stormers

Bulls vs Stormers

Date: Friday, 4 June

Time: 19h00

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Referee: Jaco Peyper

Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs, Aimee Barrett-Theron

Television Match Official: Marius van der Westhuizen

TV: SuperSport Rugby and Grandstand