‘Bulls a different beast at Loftus,’ says Stormers coach

The Stormers are preparing to face a different beast when they take on the Bulls in their highly anticipated United Rugby Championship (URC) match-up at Loftus on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors will be confident, despite heading up to the Highveld, with them having beaten the Bulls in their last four matches, while the home side also head into the game off the back of a disappointing loss against Llaneli Scarlets.

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But Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker doesn’t believe that they are favourites and admits they are set to face a different team in Pretoria.

“I wouldn’t say we are the favourites. The Bulls are a quality side. They are a real force at home and have done well over the past few years, especially at Loftus,” said Laker.

“They have had an unfortunate run with one or two games away, but at Loftus they’re a different beast. They are physical and a good all-round team and we are expecting a huge challenge in the match on Saturday.

“But we treat it as any other game, no matter who we are playing. We have to be up for the challenge or we can get hurt. So we are going up to Loftus and will have to be at our best if we want to get the result.”

Defence Key

The Stormers defence will be key in them gaining the upper hand over the Bulls in Saturday’s game, with them eager to profit at the breakdown.

“We use our defence to create turnovers against teams. We know that the Bulls have good ball carriers, they’re strong and have a good kicking game,” admitted Laker.

“We know it’s not going to be easy to get those turnovers. So we will need to fight in other areas and make sure our defence stands strong.”

Despite the wet weather that has descended over Gauteng over the past couple of weeks, Laker says that the Stormers aren’t worrying about the weather and are just focusing on playing their style of rugby, regardless of how it is on the day.

“Our game is suitable for any conditions. We made the mistake in the past of preparing for something wet (in Pretoria) or humid like in Durban. On the day you either get no humidity or it’s very hot. At the moment we’re just preparing to play our type of game,” explained Laker.