With compliments of thebulls.co.za we give you the Bulls vs Leopards preview.

It will be fair to say that not a lot is at stake in tonight’s match in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg when the Vodacom Blue Bulls take on the Leopards mainly because the Bulls have already qualified for the Absa Currie Cup semi-finals.
But on the other hand the Blue Bulls are in desperate need to deliver a superb performance from the first to the last minute for the reason that they haven’t played as well as they want to in this year’s competition.

The Bulls have had their moments but coach Frans Ludeke has not been pleased with the lapses in his players’ concentration and he wants to see the team string together a performance that can create a lot of momentum for next weekend’s play-off match that is in all probability going to take place against the Western Province at Newlands.

FOLLOWING TONIGHT’S MATCH

The match is not televised but Blue Bulls supporters can follow their team’s progress via regular postings by ‘Webbie’ on the blog.

WHAT THE BULLS HAVE FOCUSED ON

With the return of Bakkies Botha the Bulls have put in a huge effort during the course of the last couple of days in their set pieces because whenever a player of Botha’ quality is welcomed back into the team a few adjustments have to be made.

Every lock – with regard to lineout play – jumps in a different manner and with Botha jumping at number two and Danie Rossouw moving to the back, Derick Kuun and Bandise Maku had to do a lot of hard work to get used to the two Springboks’ individual styles.

In a semi-final a team’s kicking patterns and defence is also vitally important and the Bulls will go so far as to say that your defence and the execution of your kicking patterns bag the big trophies.

It therefore goes without saying that John McFarland (defence coach) and Vlok Cilliers (kicking coach) have spend several hours fine-tuning these facets of the Bulls’ game.

COACH LUDEKE’S TAKE ON THE MATCH

“We know that we are in a semi-final and therefore our focus will be on our own game.

“We want to tweak some aspects of our game for the reason that everything must be 100 percent before we go into the play offs.”

“It is going to be very tough in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and we aren’t expecting any favours from the Leopards.

“The Leopards will take us on physically, but we will only focus on the goals that we set for ourselves.”

THE LEOPARDS’ SEASON IN 2009

The Leopards have had it tough in this year’s Absa Currie Cup but they have improved in the second round in which they had a couple of fairly good results.

They managed to gather 50 odd points against the Boland and lose with only one points against the GWK Griquas, whilst they were quite competitive against the Lions and the Sharks.

The Free State, Bulls and WP however, have had their number in the first couple of months.

Lost against Free State 71-17 (Potchefstroom)
Lost against the Sharks 44-15 (Phokeng, Royal Bafokeng Stadium)
Lost against WP 48-7 (Cape Town)
Lost against Lions 40-19 (Phokeng)
Lost against Griquas 36-11 (Kimberley)
Lost against Boland 26-18 (Wellington)
Lost against Blue Bulls 44-11 (Pretoria)
Beat the Boland 50-16 (Potchefstroom)
Lost against Griquas 34-33 (Potchefstroom)
Lost against Lions 31-13 (Johannesburg)
Lost against WP 37-3 (Potchefstroom)
Lost against Sharks 37-20 (Durban)
Lost against Free State 60-17 (Bloemfontein)

THE LEOPARDS’ KEY PLAYERS

Draad Linde: Linde is arguably the Leopards’ best lineout jumper and he has shown in the Currie Cup that he can hold his own against quality opposition. He secures a lot of possession for his team, but he is under no illusion that he and his fellow jumpers are going to have their work cut out against world class lineout jumpers like Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw.

The front row of Barend van der Walt, Gavin Williamson and Nardus Lombard: The Leopards are rather confident in the scrumming ability and they would like to put a lot of pressure on the Bulls on their own ball. They have shown that they can stand their ground in the set scrums against some of the best teams and from a Blue Bull perspective it will be interesting to see what Bakkies Botha’s influence is going to be in the scrums.

Michael Bondesio: The Leopards’ scrumhalf is a real live wire and has impressed the Bulls in the earlier rounds of the competition. His sniping breaks are quite effective and there is nothing wrong with his general play.

COMMENTS FROM THE MEDIA – THINKING LIKE A SHARK

“Question: What do the Sharks and Western Province have in common? Answer: They would rather face the Cheetahs/Griquas in the semifinal.

“The buzz word in Pretoria is “gel” and should the Bulls gel well in front of their Rustenburg support base, the semifinal will be that much easier.

“The bigger the winning margin, the sterner the warning to whoever finishes in second position on the log. Or will keeping a low profile be the smarter move?” – Michael Mentz (The Citizen)

COMMENTS FROM THE MEDIA – THE BULLS ARE GOING TO CRUSH THE LEOPARDS

“The Leopards have shown great heart and at times they were very competitive. However, this Bulls team is looking for momentum and the Leopards are in for a rude awakening. They should not expect any mercy and it would not be a surprise if the Bulls put 50 points past them. The Bulls to win easily, by at least 25 points.” – Jan de Koning rugby365.co.za

THE TEAMS

Vodacom Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier , 11 Gerhard van den Heever, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Pedrie Wannenburg, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Burton Francis, 22 John Mametsa

Leopards: 15 Colin Lloyd, 14 Nicky Kritzinger, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Japie Nel, 11 Shuaib Samaai, 10 Cecil Dumont, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Christo van Niekerk, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Wilhelm Koch (captain), 5 Edrich Linde, 4 Bradley Mockford, 3 Barend van der Walt, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Nardus Lombard
Replacements: 16 Martinus van der Westhuizen, 17 Philip Lemmer, 18 Bennie Adams, 19 RW Kember, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Berndt Theissinger

Kick off: 19:10
Venue: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Arrie Schoonwinkel