Bulls prepared for Canes onslaught

Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke is readying his side for a massive physical onslaught from the Hurricanes this week, as the two sides clash in their key Vodacom Super 14 match on Friday night at Loftus Versfeld.

After losing both their games in South Africa, the Hurricanes are a dangerous team who the Bulls believe will be desperate to pull off a victory before they return home for the rest of the competition.

Having already been lifted by the failure of SANZAR’s judicial committee to punish serial offender Ma’a Nonu for a high tackle on Peter Grant last weekend, the Canes will arrive on Wednesday in Pretoria ready to give their all to take home the points and end the Bulls' 14-game unbeaten run.

Ludeke, in acknowledging this, has decided to meet force with force, and named just one change to the side which beat the Highlanders 50-35 last week for the clash with the Canes with Deon Stegmann rotating with Derick Kuün on the open-side flank.

Ludeke posed the warning in naming his team, saying the Canes would be more dangerous than ever for this clash as they want to leave South Africa with at least one win.

“We’ve seen in this competition how some teams improve from one week to the next and this is a whole new game. The Stormers game means nothing. The fact that they have lost will have a huge effect on their game,” Ludeke said.

“We’ve got a lot of pride in how we prepare and we know we will need to be 100 per cent ready for battle. But we definitely know it will be a massive physical game and as we leave on tour next week, we want the result as a boost for our tour.”

“We will do whatever it takes to get the win.”

On the bench the Bulls are waiting for clearance to Bees Roux, who badly gashed his head in a clash with the scrum machine last week. If Roux gets through Tuesday afternoon’s training session, he will be on the bench, but the Bulls have bracketed young Rossouw de Klerk, who made his debut on the weekend, with the prop.

Jaco Pretorius, who was due to return from injury, was not considered for the game.

Vodacom Bulls: Zane Kirchener; Gerhard van der Heever, Stephan Dippenaar, Wynand Olivier, Francois Hougaard; Morné Steyn, Fourie du Preez; Pierre Spies, Dewald Potgieter, Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield (capt), Danie Rossouw, Werner Kruger, Gary Botha, Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Reserves: Bandise Maku, Bees Roux/Rossouw de Klerk, Flip van der Merwe, Derick Kuün, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Pedrie Wannenburg.