Stormers vs Bulls preview:

The North vs South derby in South-Africa. One of the biggest games each year that always attract a lot of attention. The Stormers is coming into this game on a high after demolishing the Hurricanes last week. They did however loose their captain due to injury and will be facing a very different team this week. The Bulls are coming to Capetown with a much bigger and more physical forward pack and the Stormers won’t b able to dominate up front as easy as they did against the Canes. The bulls will want to go down to cape town and show that they are still the South-African team with the best pack. This game is not going to be as free running as the Chiefs vs Crusaders this morning. It is going to be a bone crunching battle. It will be interesting to look at the scrums because it is two of the worlds best up against each other Kitshoff vs Trevor.

Key Match-ups:

Steven Kitshoff vs Trevor Nyakane: This battle will be won or lost at scrum time. They are most likely going to be the props for the Springboks going forward an they will want to win the bragging rights. The Springboks counted on their scrum penalties allot in the world cup and both this teams will want to get penalties from the scrums. These two players is going to be vital for their teams if they want to win the battle up front.

Damian Willemse vs Morné Steyn: Another great match-up and I am looking forward to this one. Steyn last week showed that he is not old to play super rugby and that his kicks from hand will be able to get his team out of some sticky situations. Damian also had a great game and he will want to continue in that vein of form. Him and Curwin are having a battle to be the future of South-African flyhalfs and it is very interesting to wach. I believe that Steyn is a better 10 and mabey an old fashion one but they are still great if you play a forward dominated game. Willemse is more lively and plays like the modern flyhalfs if he wants to become a south african great he will have to sharpen up some of his basics like kicks from hand and placekicking.

Teams:

Stormers:

1. Steven Kitshoff
2. Siyabonga Ntubeni
3. Frans Malherbe
4. Salmaan Moerat
5. Chris Van Zyl
6. Jaco Coetzee
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit
8. Johan du Toit
9. Herschel Jantjies
10. Damian Willemse
11. Seabelo Senatla
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Ruhan Nel
14. Sergeal Petersen
15. Dillyn Leyds
16. Chad Solomon
17. Alistair Vermaak
18. Wilco Louw
19. Cobus Wiese
20. Ernst van Rhyn
21. Juarno Augustus
22. Godlen Masimla
23. Jean-Luc du Plessis

Bulls:

1. Lizo Gqoboka
2. Jaco Visagie
3. Trevor Nyakane
4. Andries Ferreira
5. Juandre Kruger
6. Jeandre Rudolph
7. Abongile Nonkontwana
8. Josh Strauss
9. Ivan van Zyl
10. Morné Steyn
11. Rosko Speckman
12. Burger Odendaal
13. John-Ben Kotze
14. Cornal Hendricks
15. Warrick Gelant
16. Johan Grobbelaar
17. Gerhard Steenekamp
18. Wiehahn Herbst
19. Ruan Nortje
20. Wian Vosloo
21. Embrose Papier
22. Manie Libbok
23. Divan Rossouw

My Prediction:

My hart is saying (hoping that the Bulls will win (and I am going to pick them on Superbru), But my mind and reading the team sheet I think the Stormers is going to be to strong with their loose forwards and that magical number 9.