Edwill van der Merwe is one of eight Lions players who will be foing to this year's first Springbok alignment camp. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Bulls director of rugby Jake White has again taken the view the Lions will have a psychological point to prove when they play against the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship (URC) at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The teams clash in their second Jukskei derby of the season after the Bulls won the first match 35–22 in Johannesburg last month. There, the Bulls scored four tries to also come away from Ellis Park with a bonus point.
It was in the build-up to that game that White said several Lions players grew up playing in Bulls grassroots structures, and still live in Pretoria.
He speculated they upped their game as a way of “showing they could have played for the Bulls rather than moving to the Lions”.
Before the second derby on Saturday, White said the scoreline of the first was not a true reflection on the game as the Lions played very well.
And again he expects Lions players Juan Schoeman, Ruan Delport, WJ Steenkamp, Jaco Visagie and Richard Kriel, among others, to come out hard against their former club.
“I’m expecting exactly what we get from them every time we play them. They lift their game against us,” White said.
“A lot of them live in this town. A lot of them have been here as juniors. I expect them to want to prove they could still have been at the Bulls.”
The Bulls boss shared something he noticed while coaching Montpellier – when a player left one team for another he played better against his old side.
“You look at Rudolf Straeuli, Hannes Strydom, Gavin Johnson, Uli Schmidt and Johan Roux. They were all playing at Pretoria Harlequins with Kitch [coach Kitch Christie].
“They went to Transvaal and what happened? That team dominated Super Rugby, Currie Cup and won a World Cup. Sometimes moving players from one region to another brings out the best in them.”
He said he has found the same thing about the Lions since he joined the Bulls in 2020.
“They are difficult to beat. A lot of them have been tapped on the shoulder to go to the [Springbok] alignment camp which I am sure will boost them as well.”
Eight Lions players have been selected for the Springbok alignment camp in March.
These include Quan Horn, Morne van den Berg, Edwill van der Merwe, Henco van Wyk, Renzo du Plessis, Francke Horn, Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Ruan Venter.
ALSO READ: Second Jukskei derby this season could be even bigger than the first
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