Bulls ready for set-piece battle with Ospreys, says lock Swanepoel

Bulls lock Janko Swanepoel says they will have to establish set-piece dominance if they are to overcome the Ospreys in their United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

The Ospreys stunned the Stormers last weekend in Cape Town, beating them 27 -21 to claim the major scalp. The win was attributed to Ospreys’ strong set-piece play, particularly their scrums.

Their performance against the Stormers is being used by the Bulls to analyse them.

The Bulls are in desperate need of a win after back-to-back defeats to Leinster and Munster in the URC. The Pretoria-based outfit are currently in fourth place with 46 points on the URC points table. A win over the Ospreys will reignite the Bulls’ campaign.

‘We can’t underestimate them’

However, Swanepoel knows their encounter against their Welsh visitors will not be a walk in the park.

“If you look at the Stormers game in the previous weekend, we definitely can’t underestimate them. So going into this weekend we must not underestimate them,” Swanepoel said.

The towering lock said their forward pack needs to be strong and set the tone early in the match.

“We need to try to dominate them in the set-piece, that will help us for this weekend,” Swanepoel said. 

“I think their forwards are very direct, they play direct rugby, so our defence is going to be very important, as well as the mauling. I think their lineout and scrums are very good, so we as a pack need to prepare for the lineouts and the mauls this weekend,” he said. 

Leadership responsibilities

With the Bulls a bit thin on the leadership front, Swanepoel revealed there have been added responsibilities to the locks by forwards coach Andries Bekker in the absence of co-captain Ruan Nortje. 

“Usually at the lineouts, as locks, we must take leadership, in training and matches. Coach Andries, he lets the locks do the talking a bit more and he tries to develop us as leaders and in taking more ownership in leadership in the lineout,” Swanepoel said.

Meanwhile, the Bulls will be without influential flyhalf Johan Goosen against Ospreys on Saturday due to a three-match suspension following his red card in last weekend’s loss to Munster. The sanction will be reduced by one week should Goosen complete the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme.