Bulls boss Pote Human insists his manne won’t be favourites when the Stormers arrive at Loftus for their Super Rugby opener this weekend.
Human named a match-23 featuring 10 Springboks for Saturday’s 5.15pm South African derby.
The Bulle will be led by lock Lood de Jager and will boast former Newlands heroes Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Brits.
But after Robbie Fleck’s out-of-towners maintained their recent dominance over the northerners in the pre-season SuperHero Sunday clash two weeks ago, Human is not too confident his Captain Americas can overpower the visiting Thors
Human says: “Recent history shows how formidable the Stormers have been.
“They have won seven of their last nine games against us, so will have more than enough confidence coming here.
“That said, we did beat them here last year, so I firmly believe we can do that again.”
Skipper De Jager has urged his manne to step up big time, saying his team haven’t been capable of producing an 80-minute effort.
He says: “We held the lead in three of our last matches at half-time and only won once, so it is imperative that we not only start well, but sustain our efforts for the full 80 minutes.
“There is massive excitement and expectation amongst the squad this year and we are keen to go out and play the best rugby we can.”
Former Blitzbok hotstepper Rosko Specman will be the only tournament debutant in the Bulls run-on team.
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Jessie Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Lood de Jager (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka. Substitutes: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Dylan Sage.