Dominating collisions and a good start key for Bulls in Glasgow, says Coetzee

The Bulls are under no illusion that their match against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland on Friday will be one of the hardest of the season.

Their players have mentioned the need for a quick-fire start and coming off better in collisions when the teams clash at Scotstoun Stadium (kick-off 8.35pm) with the second position on the United Rugby Championship table to play for.

The powerhouse Scottish side have had a great season though they were on the receiving end of a 52–0 thrashing by Leinster in the Champions Cup two weeks ago.

Glasgow have won 11 of their 15 games in the URC so far and are one of the favourites to go all the way this year and defend the title they won last season (beating the Bulls in Loftus in the final).

Bulls target collisions at Scotstoun

“The biggest thing is to dominate collisions because that will have a ripple effect,” said Bulls loose forward Marcell Coetzee.

“If you can manage to stop that first contact [in defence] it will have a ripple effect on the next phase. Then we can pick our steals where we feel they are exposed.”

Coetzee added the Bulls had been balancing rest and preparation in time since their confidence-building 16–13 win against Munster in Ireland last weekend.

“It’s all about making sure the body is ready now and we’re mentally switched on because they’re a quality Glasgow side. They can punish you on the day if you don’t rock up. They’ve exposed teams that start off slow, so that will be a big emphasis for us going into this.

Pretoria side have to adapt to artificial surface again

Coetzee’s teammate, No 8 Cameron Hanekom, said they will also have to adapt to an artificial 4G surface at Scotstoun, their only recent experience on one coming in their 34–28 loss in Edinburgh in the Champions Cup a fortnight ago.

“It’s definitely something you have to adapt to. I prefer playing on grass. The grass burns aren’t that bad. [4G] feels a bit lighter when it comes to explosiveness.”

However, he said it was out of his hands and he preferred to focus on the controllables and the game at hand.

“Most of the players there have played internationally, so it’s going to be a good match-up. We are up to the challenge. We want those big names to play against us. That’s who you want to get measured against.”