Those who saw an injury depleted Bulls team train on Monday, fear not, as all players not in action were on the sidelines as a precautionary measure.
The Vodacom Bulls team doctor, Org Strauss, confirmed that there were no serious injuries in the team after the Reds match at the weekend.
Although at least six players did not train on Monday, all should be available to play against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
Willie Wepener (ear), Chiliboy Ralepelle (flu), Werner Kruger (neck), Jacques Potgieter (neck and back), Jano Vermaak (back) and CJ Stander (head wound) sat out during the afternoon session.
A final call on the availability of Deon Stegmann will be made on Tuesday, Strauss said.
Amongst the Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup team, who plays the Leopards in Potchefstroom, Rayno Geber (heel) and Dawie Steyn (shoulder) will train tomorrow.
The Vodacom Bulls will be heading to Cape Town this weekend for the big showdown, and will unveil their new pink jersey for the first time at Newlands in the heated Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the DHL Stormers.
The away jersey caused much consternation when announced at the beginning of the season, and initially it was only to be used on the four away games overseas, but a potential clash with the Stormers jersey means the Bulls will run out in pink this weekend for the first time.
“We had a look at the two jerseys and there definitely is a clash,” Bulls manager Wynie Strydom confirmed to SuperSport.com, “So being the away team we will need to wear our away strip.”
While the team kit sponsors Puma are desperately trying to market it as the “purple jersey”, the overwhelming pink aspect overshadows the “Jacaranda effect” that the marketing boys have come up with and is sure to stir up some debate this week.
But even though they may get some stick for their jersey, the Bulls will head to Cape Town all confident after their 61-8 demolition of the defending champion Reds at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
And once again it will be a classic battle between attack and defence, with the Bulls heading up the try-scoring list with a massive 17 after five rounds, while the Stormers could only manage seven.
On defence the teams are even, having conceded just five apiece, the stingiest in the competition, and the Bulls have conceded less points — 69 to the Stormers’ 74 while their Reds demolition puts them way out front with points scored — their 153 being the most in the competition thus far.
But the Stormers have one massive thing going for them — they are the only unbeaten team in the competition and have a knack of winning games they probably shouldn’t, as was witnessed at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg on Saturday night.
The grit and determination of the Cape team have made them the top team in the competition thus far, and while the Bulls are sure to arrive with so many positives going for them, the Cape team will be determined to get one over them after losing their home game in 2011 and the 2010 final to the Pretoria side.
Either way it will be a mouth-watering clash, one which will test the resolves, character and aspirations of both teams.
We’re not thought of in terms of color because we are entertainers. We are there to entertain you not because we are black, white, pink, or green or gay or straight.
..
frans ludeke unvailing the bulls’ kit
Notice at Loftus:
Please note that there will be a few rule changes around here now that our beloved Bulls play in pink
1) One lucky season ticket holder will win a free make-over during half time of each match.
2) Fans will no longer be allowed to braai before kick-off, instead fondue stations will be available for snacks.
3) The beer tent will no longer sell beer, but a wide variety of fruity drinks will be available.
4) The dancing girls will be replaced by a French poodle parade.
5) The man of the match will not receive a trophy, but rather a subscription to House and Home magazine.
6) The yellow card area will not be referred to as the sin bin, but will now be known as the temper tantrum tank.
7) The stadium will change from the Bull-Ring to the Fairy Garden.
8) The new mascot will be Lady the French Poodle.
9) A booth will be provided to exchange those dangerous horned helmets for the more appropriate silk scarf.
10) Liefling will still be the unofficial song…
Chuck Norris invented black.
In fact,
He invented the entire spectrum of visible light.
Except pink.
Tom Cruise invented pink.
@ Ashley:
Bwahahahahaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
I’m crying my eyes out with laughter
turk @ 64
at last SOME response, lol.
been seeing 10 – 13 guests on here for almost the whole day, but no-one who wanted to talk
..
mustve been some uhm-you-know-which-supporters who were reading the comments from the safety of their wardrobes … wink wink
Ash you are on a roll , man even me can not stop laughing at all your antics, keep it going i love it. Come Saturday we might have a more subdued lot of Stormers supporters. Whow i dont think the Bulls company ever realized how much publicity they would get out of this silly pink colour.
ag you know mos super, can resist having a go at the bulls in the week before a bulls/stormers clash 😆
Stormers bulk up for Bulls clash
March 28 2012 at 03:16pm
By SAPA
Rynhardt Elstadt has been named at blindside flank.
The Stormers have beefed up their backrow in a bid to front up against the physicality of the fearsome Bulls’ pack at Newlands on Saturday.
Lock Rynhardt Elstadt was named at blindside flank in the Stormers team on Wednesday for the north-south Super Rugby derby this weekend.
How ironic, the Bulls are the team that scores most tries, will they run circles around the boring Bulls type play that WP/Stormers dish up nowadays?
Years back us Bullies were lambasted for this. I will watch this game with interest.
Did the Stormers learn their lessons and are they trying to play a mixture of Bulls rugby and defense ala Jake White or is the wrecker of Springbok bacline play , AC just continuing his creative coaching inability. I will never forget how he farked up the Bok backline play and how Eddie Jones had to come and save him and Jake. This time Nienaber saves him.
I know many will jump for their guns now , but Nienaber is the only reason why there is wins for the Stormers.
The creative backline play that was a integral part of WP rugby is long gone, and for the dull boring Bulls to outscore them in tries must be hard to swallow.
640 Reasons why Bulls are weaker
March 28 2012 at 12:14pm
By Zelim Nel
The Stormers are a settled, well-oiled machine this season.
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Stormers maintain unbeaten record
The Stormers came within four points of a clean-sweep of the Bulls in 2011, and last week’s sloppy win against the Lions should not lower expectations that the unbeaten log-leaders will beat their biggest rivals at Newlands on Saturday.
Coach Allister Coetzee hinted that the Stormers had one eye on the Bulls after they streaked into an 18-0 lead at Ellis Park at the weekend.
By Zelim Nel
Coach Allister Coetzee hinted that the Stormers had one eye on the Bulls after they streaked into an 18-0 lead at Ellis Park at the weekend.
“I think some of the players were thinking of the game against the Bulls,” the Stormers coach said in explaining last week’s torrid second-half slump.
And a source close to the camp confirmed that the clash with the Bulls ranks as “the most important game of the season” for some of the players.
“I’m just pleased that we won,” added Coetzee. “And that we’ve got time to fix and improve on it.”
For all the talk of a lack of attacking edge in the Stormers’ game, they remain the only unbeaten side in the competition. It is true that they have beaten Hurricanes, Sharks and Blues sides who were depleted to varying degrees, but the Stormers have stayed on the right side of the scoreboard without the services of at least five frontline players this season – captain Schalk Burger among them.
“Somewhere along the line you have to use your back-up players,” said Coetzee, highlighting how an extended schedule makes the Super 15 a challenge to outlast, rather than outplay, your opponents.
“There’s a massive emphasis on conditioning and having a big squad.”
This time last week, after the Stormers needed just 52 minutes to quell a rampant Blues outfit who had humbled the Bulls at Lofus, there would have been very few punters willing to bet hard-earned blue buffaloes on the Bulls beating the Stormers in Cape Town.
But Bulls fans have been tattooing horns on their boeps after an emphatic 61-8 win against the Reds.
Coaches often talk about the value of momentum in the Super 15 and, while the Bulls will take confidence from beating the defending champions, the Stormers will have four wins at their back when they run on to rapturous applause at Newlands.
They clinched their first victory at Loftus Versfeld since 2003 when they powered to a 23-13 win in March last year, but the Bulls held on for a 19-16 win at Newlands in the return match.
However, much has changed since then. The Bulls lost the backbone of their three-title side when they waved goodbye to Springboks Gurthro Steenkamp, Gary Botha, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw, Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez at the end of last year.
This group of departed veterans, along with Gerhard van den Heever, accounts for 640 Super Rugby caps that are no longer available to guide the team through stormy weather.
Conversely, Coetzee’s side has improved since the teams last met. Prop Wicus Blaauw and lock Rynhardt Elstadt find themselves on the outside looking in, having been supplanted by the 20-year-old duo of Steven Kitshoff and Eben Etzebeth.
Pieter Louw made a rare appearance in the starting line-up when a knee injury kept Burger out of the road match against the Bulls last year, but the Stormers have since unearthed an outstanding replacement for the crocked skipper in Siya Kolisi. And, instead of facing up to the competition’s heaviest artillery with a gun-shy Conrad Jantjes at fullback, cocksure Joe Pietersen is back to hold the fort.
The Bulls were at full strength when the teams met in June, while the Stormers ran on with hooker Deon Fourie, scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, flyhalf Kurt Coleman, and Jantjes at fullback, and they nearly won.
Aside from the Bulls halfback pair of Francois Hougaard and Morne Steyn, the Stormers are superior in every department – nowhere more so than in the front row where Kitshoff, Liebenberg and Malherbe will have an opportunity to show up a suspect Bok trio. – Cape Argus
With this i retire for the night, i just love the North vs South rivalry.
Just hope for a fair game and no injuries.
May the best prepared team win.
A Cape Town Cop on patrol see a Blue Bull fan peeing in a fountian. The cop walk up to him and ask him to zip up his pants. So the cop is leaving, the fan zip up his pants, but start laughing hysterically. Obviously the cop wants to know what the Bulls Fan thought was so funny. Said the Bulls fan: “i zipped it up …. but i didnt stop!!”
71@ superBul: As long as it is wearing pink
#73
we dont drink pink drinks, loskop
..
and remember … i’m watching you!! 😀
74@ Ashley:
I might go to Boooooooooolands and watch the Stormers.
loosehead @ 75
… dressed in pink?
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