URC quarter-final: Bulls v Edinburgh
The Bulls – URC runners up in 2022 and 2024 – will secure themselves a home semi-final if they emerge victorious against Edinburgh, which will fuel their motivation immensely as they cast an eye further ahead by attempting to repeat the double by advancing to the Grand Final for the second season in a row.
Kick off for their quarter-final on Saturday is at 13:30.
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian De Klerk, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Ruan Nortje (c), 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Devon Williams
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Harry Paterson, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D'arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Liam McConnell, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Mark Bennett
The match-up between the Bulls and Edinburgh is expected to be an entertaining affair, given the close contest between the sides early in the season, where the Pretoria outfit emerged 22-16 victors at home in the second round, before the Scots turned the tables with a 34-28 win in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final.
With seven straight URC victories to their name and the team having suffered only four defeats this season, the Bulls will enter the clash as favourites. However, they will be wary of underestimating Edinburgh, who – over-and-above from knocking them out of the EPCR Challenge Cup – have had a fair run of form of late, losing only one of their last five matches, while one ended in a draw.
In fact, their only defeat in this series of events was against the Sharks in Durban by one point, but that said, they will have to enter the match strong-willed to break their disappointing away-win record, which shows six defeats in nine outings.
In stark contrast, the Bulls have suffered only one home defeat in the competition this season, and adding to this, they have won six more matches than the Scots in the pool stages, and have a better record on attack and defence. This, however, will undoubtedly fire up Edinburgh.
Bulls v Edinburgh
Date: Saturday, 31 MayVenue: Loftus Versfeld, PretoriaSA Time: 13h30Referee: Adam Jones
TV: SuperSport
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