Statement wins set up tasty Jukskei derby between Lions and Bulls

Statement wins in the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions by Highveld rivals, the Bulls and Lions, has set up an incredibly tasty United Rugby Championship (URC) cross-Jukskei derby at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.

Both the Lions and Bulls had gone through a tough recent run of results and needed a big showing to get themselves back on track, and both teams responded in kind with huge wins over the weekend.

The Lions had lost five of their last six games in the URC and Challenge Cup, but showed they were back to close to their best with a 60-10 demolition of Welsh side Dragons over the weekend to qualify for the last 16 of the competition.

The Bulls had lost their last four games in the URC and Champions Cup and had already been dumped out of Europe’s top franchise rugby competition, but bounced back with a 48-7 hammering of French side Stade Francais to make sure they would drop into the Challenge Cup.

Both teams now turn their focus back to the URC, where the Lions have slipped to 12^th on the log, while the Bulls are up in fourth, and a win would put both sides into a great position as they have two games in hand over most teams in the competition.

Tough match

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen was happy to see his charges get back to winning ways and was looking forward to a tough match against their closest rivals.

“It is going to be big. We had no doubt that the Bulls would be good (against Stade Francais). They are also a really proud team,” said Van Rooyen.

“I didn’t catch too much of their game as it was during our prep. But the 15 minutes I caught you could see with the tempo that they played at and how they wanted to play, they wanted to make a statement. So I think it’s going to be a cracker.”

Van Rooyen was also excited to see his side revert to their more traditional play style against Dragons, which they had struggled to replicate during their poor run of results, and was hopeful they would build on it.

“It was definitely more the kind of game we want to play. To get the ball into space and give it to x-factor players. With open air we feel we can threaten teams there. The mix between the kicking game and attacking game was much better this week,” said Van Rooyen.

“So It was definitely more of a performance that we want to put our stamp onto and we will try to build on it going forward.”