Bulls scrumhalf Zak Burger will hope to get a start on Saturday against Lyon in the Champions Cup. Picture: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
As the Bulls travel to France for their second Champions Cup match on Saturday against Lyon, scrumhalf Zak Burger says they will draw inspiration from the Lions’ exploits last weekend.
The Lions pulled off an impressive 28-12 win over French side Perpignan away from home. The victory kick-started their Challenge Cup campaign on the right foot, and the talking point from the win was that Ivan van Rooyen deployed a team with fringe players.
The Bulls are currently on a three-game winning streak, which included a 27-16 triumph over Saracens, and they will hope it continues at the Stade Gerland this weekend.
It will be the second time the Pretoria side visit the Stade Gerland to face off with Lyon; in January they lost 31-7 in the same competition.
Despite knowing how tough it can be to go to Lyon, the Bulls will look at the Lions’ win over Perpignan and believe it is possible to pick up a full bag of points in France.
“I watched a bit of the Lions game, they took their chances and got a very good result,” Burger said before the team’s departure.
“We are going to Lyon to get a result. It’s going to be hard but we’ll fight until the end of the game, and hopefully we can get a good result in France.”
The former Griquas captain is expecting Lyon to have traits similar to a traditional South African team.
“What this Lyon team has is a very big pack with quick backs and strike runners in the centres,” Burger said.
“They’ll bring the physicality that we as South Africans have. It’s going to be a nice physical encounter with a big pack. It’s going to be a nice game; they have a big pack that’s very mobile.”
Burger has had to fight for the No 9 jersey with Embrose Papier this season. Papier has been the regular scrumhalf, forming a solid partnership with mercurial flyhalf Johan Goosen.
The competition between the two has not brought any hostilities but has been a healthy one.
“There’s healthy competition within the squad. If you look at our squad this year, we have a very good squad and depth in all the positions,” said Burger.
“At the moment, Embrose is playing unbelievable rugby. I’m happy for him. We are quite close; we help each other where we can. If I’m on the bench and his starting and I feel like I saw something in the first half, I’ll speak to him at half-time and contribute to the team wherever I can.”
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