During Friday’s team announcement, Bulls boss Jake White kept calling Saturday night’s Champions Cup clash against Saracens a “Test match”.
That points to the high calibre of players who will run out at Loftus Versfeld (7.30pm kickoff), but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pretoria side will look to match the English club by employing percentage tactics themselves.
Why would you when you have a star-studded Springbok back-three of Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie? Or the new hot-shot No 8 Cameron Hanekom, as well as Springbok flanks Marco van Staden and Elrigh Louw?
Or a powerhouse front row in Gerhard Steenekamp, Akker van der Merwe and Wilco Louw?
In addition, regular captain Marcell Coetzee returns to the bench following his two-match suspension.
And the key to unlocking that attacking strike-force will be down to halfbacks Embrose Papier and Johan Goosen, who were excellent in last week’s 44-10 United Rugby Championship victory over the Sharks.
But they will be pushed to the limits by a superb Saracens line-up boasting England stalwarts Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Jamie George, Vunipola brothers Billy and Mako, as well as former Bok scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl and Argentina flank Juan Martin Gonzalez.
“That’s always going to be a wonderful debate in rugby... That’s what makes rugby so unique: you can play in different ways. Saracens have shown that over the last couple of years, as they’ve had an incredible success rate playing the style they play,” Bulls director of rugby White said.
“But I don’t think the Bulls need to get sucked into anything. We’ve got to focus on what we do well, especially at home, because we have all the contributing factors like altitude, heat – and the momentum we’ve had with the way we’ve been playing.
“That is something we mustn’t move away from, but it’s going to be an interesting ‘Test match’. They obviously have a good kicking game, but I’m confident with Willie, Canan and Kurt-Lee – who have played together at international level – that they would have played against international sides (who have a) similar (style) to that.
“I’m looking forward to seeing whether or not our group can play the way we want to play.”
While Farrell and Co are sure to utilise their famed kicking game, the Bulls’ biggest challenge may come in the lineouts, where Itoje will look to put local youngsters Janko Swanepoel and Reinhardt Ludwig under pressure, with usual second-row starters Ruan Nortjé and Ruan Vermaak, as well as Jannes Kirsten and Jacques du Plessis all still injured.
“It’s another test for them, and I say that without any disrespect to Itoje. They played against Eben Etzebeth last week, and everyone spoke about the big challenge they had, and they played really well against Eben,” White said.
“It’s another good international player, and it will be nice to see how the growth of our forward pack keeps going during the year.
“Guys like Janko, Elrigh Louw – who captained last week, and I thought he did a really good job of that – I can see the growth in them over the last couple of seasons.
“I’ve got no doubt that the lessons they would’ve learnt playing in Lyon last year, or away and home at Exeter, would have been lessons that they can use in these big games.
“Everyone appreciates that Saracens have an incredible record in the Champions Cup... It’s almost like the Barcelona of rugby. It’s going to be a wonderful ‘Test match’.
“The learnings we’ve all made as a group over the last couple of seasons will have to be water-tight as well, because we are going to get asked different questions. We are going to be tested in different areas that we haven’t been tested before, because of the way Saracens play.
“It’s always good to start well, but the one thing we do know is that the longer you play at altitude, the more fatigued you get – especially if you are a touring side.
“It’s wonderful to start well, but I don’t necessarily think if you start badly, all is lost. There are a lot of contributing factors that can play a role in these Champions Cup games.
“It’s a great honour for us that they brought their best team to play against us. It sends a great message to the group that they take us that seriously that they would bring all their available internationals to play at Loftus.”
Teams For Pretoria
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 13 Stedman Gans 12 David Kriel 11 Canan Moodie 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier 8 Cameron Hanekom 7 Elrigh Louw (captain) 6 Marco van Staden 5 Reinhardt Ludwig 4 Janko Swanepoel 3 Wilco Louw 2 Akker van der Merwe 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Mornay Smith 19 Deon Slabbert 20 Marcell Coetzee 21 Zak Burger 22 Jaco van der Walt 23 Sergeal Petersen.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode 14 Alex Lewington 13 Elliot Daly 12 Nick Tompkins 11 Sean Maitland 10 Owen Farrell (captain) 9 Ivan van Zyl 8 Billy Vunipola 7 Andy Christie 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez 5 Hugh Tizard 4 Maro Itoje 3 Alec Clarey 2 Jamie George 1 Mako Vunipola.
Bench: 16 Theo Dan 17 Tom West 18 Christian Judge 19 Theo McFarland 20 Toby Knight 21 Aled Davies 22 Olly Hartley 23 Lucio Cinti.
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