Dragons boss Tiatia: It's in the Bulls' DNA to be brutal
The Rodney Parade club will, barring the biggest upset of the season, end the United Rugby Championship with a 17th straight defeat at Loftus Versfeld (kick-off 2pm) on Saturday.
The hosts will secure second seeding with victory on what will be an emotional occasion after the death of former Bulls and Springboks winger Cornal Hendricks at the age of 37.
The Bulls are overwhelming favourites and will be expected to run up a big score against the injury-hit Dragons, who are fresh from a 48-12 loss at the Stormers and who must cope with playing at altitude.
'It's one final push and the last game of the season,' said head coach Tiatia. 'Pretoria is a challenging place and they are second in the league.
'They play a dominant style of rugby – that's the Bulls DNA – and we are under no illusions about the size of the challenge, but we want to finish strongly with the young players that are here.'
The Dragons shipped eight tries against the Stormers, who stretched away with three in the closing stages.
They were resilient for much of the first half and the score was relatively respectable at 29-12 with 73 minutes on the clock, but the Bulls are even more formidable opponents.
THREAT: Bulls back rower Ruan Nortje (Image: Mark Lewis/Huw Evans Agency)
'The style of game they play is totally different to the Stormers, they are a physical team and brutal in contact,' said Tiatia, who relished such confrontations in his playing days.
'That's a good challenge for us because we are not too bad when we get our detail right. It will be a heck of a contest and, like it is for most teams [at altitude], it's how you stay in it after 50 minutes.'
It was revealed on Thursday morning that Hendricks had died after a heart attack on Wednesday evening.
The winger, who made his Test debut against Wales in 2014 and won 12 caps for the Springboks, was diagnosed with a serious heart condition 10 years ago and retired from professional rugby.
But he returned to the game after receiving a second medical opinion and spent five seasons with the Bulls.
'Having coached sides against Cornal, I witnessed first-hand his athleticism, footwork, pace, and power with his side-stepping and fend a constant threat," said Tiatia.
'Cornal was a player I greatly admired, and he was an inspirational player to watch play on the field but also away from the action with his work in the wider community.
'I wish to personally send out my sympathies to his friends and family along with the wider Bulls family."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
15 hours ago
- BBC News
'Challenging' for Warriors with less foreign talent
United Rugby Championship semi-final: Leinster v Glasgow WarriorsVenue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 6 June Kick-off: 14:45 BSTCoverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Sport website & app, online text updates. Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith says next season will be "quite challenging" as they face the prospect of losing foreign players amid Scottish Rugby's desire to encourage more homegrown African flanker Henco Venter this week expressed his sadness at departing at the end of the season as a believes that, while the idea has merit, it is going to be testing next season losing some of the quality the United Rugby Championship club have had at their disposal."It is disappointing losing the foreign players here - they've had value," he said. "One, to help us win. It wasn't the main ingredient, but it is important to bring young players through. "You can only put young players out on the pitch if your team is winning and there's not much pressure on them to make the side perform."Smith thought it also helped manage the game time of international players. "It allows us to give them a weekend during the season, or to not have them play with niggles," he said. "We can give them some extra recovery time, especially with the full schedule."It's going to be quite challenging next season. Obviously, it is a directive that has got its own merit and it's got its own explanation around that. So we'll do the best we can despite losing some of the quality players that we've had."It would be excellent if we could have kept everybody. It's more about a different way. For now, that is what it is."Warriors' current squad face a tough test against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday in their URC semi-final as they look to defend the title they won last a 52-0 Champions Cup defeat by the same opponents, followed by a 13-5 loss in the final match of the regular URC season in Dublin, Smith was keen to point out that they plan to peak at this stage of the season, despite being underdogs."It's a semi-final," he explained. "The mindset and approach and attitude in a final game is obviously the main ingredient."We've got to be on top of our game. They've got a world-class team. They've proven it in the Test match arena, they've proven it in this competition. "It's a class outfit. It's going to be a tough challenge. "The only way we're going to get better and keep on growing and progressing is if we challenge ourselves to be the best version of ourselves."
STV News
16 hours ago
- STV News
Huw Jones to miss out again as Warriors face Leinster in URC semi-finals
Glasgow centre Huw Jones will again miss out as Warriors travel to Dublin to face Leinster in the BKT United Rugby Championship semi-finals. Jones has been missing for several weeks with an Achilles problem and has failed to make the 23-man squad for the Aviva Stadium encounter despite some optimism over his fitness from Scotstoun earlier in the week. Forwards Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey and Zander Fagerson all miss out again as expected but were progressing well in their recoveries earlier in the week. Head coach Franco Smith has made just two personnel changes following the 36-18 triumph over Stormers last weekend, which took the defending champions into the final four of the competition. Former Scotland Under-20 international Fin Richardson comes into the starting line-up at tighthead prop as Murphy Walker drops out of the 23. Adam Hastings is recalled at fly-half to spark a reshuffle in the back division. Tom Jordan moves to inside centre, where he will partner Sione Tuipulotu. Stafford McDowall drops to the bench. Warriors are making their third trip to Dublin inside two months and will need to make further improvement. Glasgow were thrashed 52-0 by Leinster in April in the Champions Cup and lost 13-5 in the Irish capital in the final match of the regular URC season. Smith told 'Leinster are the standard setters in this competition. They finished top of the standings for a reason, and have consistently out-performed teams across the course of this season while showing their strength in depth. 'It is a challenge that we know we will need to be at our best to meet, and the players are focused on the task at hand. 'Training this week has been sharp and competitive, with every player working hard for each other to put this squad in the best possible position.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
18 hours ago
- Scotsman
Glasgow Warriors rejig team for Leinster semi-final - but still no place for star back
Adam Hastings comes in for Stafford McDowall in the Glasgow Warriors backline. | SNS Group Smith names team for crunch URC semi-final in Dublin Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Glasgow Warriors have reshuffled their midfield for Saturday's United Rugby Championship semi-final against Leinster in Dublin. The defending champions have brought Adam Hastings into the starting XV for the match at the Aviva Stadium. Hastings, who came off the bench in the 36-18 win over the Stormers in the quarter-finals, starts at 10 in a move which sees Tom Jordan move from stand-off to inside centre, and Sione Tuipulotu switch from 12 to 13. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The unlucky Stafford McDowall drops to the bench. There is still no place in the squad for Huw Jones who is nursing an Achilles tendon injury. Adam Hastings comes in for Stafford McDowall in the Glasgow Warriors backline. | SNS Group The other major change is in the front row where Fin Richardson comes in at tighthead prop, replacing Murphy Walker who struggled in the scrum in the first half against the Stormers before being replaced by Sam Talakai. Talakai is on the bench again this weekend. There is also a welcome return for loosehead prop Rory Sutherland after a long spell out injured, with the Scotland international named among the replacements, taking the place of Nathan McBeth Glasgow go into the match as underdogs having lost twice to Leinster in Dublin in the past eight weeks. They were hammered 52-0 in the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup in April but produced a much better performance last month before going down 13-5 in a URC league match at the Aviva. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Franco Smith's team are bidding to make history in the competition. No side has ever won the URC in back to back seasons. Saturday's other semi-final sees the Bulls take on the Sharks in an all-South Africa clash at Loftus Versfeld. Leinster v Glasgow Warriors teams Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe; Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Fin Richardson, Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings, Euan Ferrie, Rory Darge, Henco Venter. Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Max Williamson, Jack Mann, Macenzzie Duncan, Stafford McDowall, Jamie Dobie.
