Stormers vs Bulls LIVE scores: The Stormers face the Bulls in an all-South African United Rugby Championship quarter-final clash.
Stormers vs Bulls: LIVE scores
The Stormers have been bolstered by the return of flank Deon Fourie and wing Leolin Zas.
Ruhan Nel, Angelo Davids, Herschel Jantjies, Joseph Dweba and Frans Malherbe also return to the starting line-up, having featured off the replacements bench in the final league match of the season against Benetton a fortnight ago.
The Bulls have made minor changes to their team. Simphiwe Matanzima and Nizaam Carr are called up to the bench while the starting XV has remained unchanged.
ALSO READ: Stormers vs Bulls, URC stats, facts and key history
What they said
Stormer’s coach John Dobson said: “We will have our biggest crowd of the season for a North-South knock-out game, so this is something everyone has been looking forward to.
“It is fantastic to have the likes of Deon and Leolin back in the mix for this one, they have both made such a big impact for us in recent times.
“We are very proud of what we have already achieved this season, as our goal was to broaden depth across the squad and consolidate our position. To have hosted a Heineken Champions Cup play-off, retain the SA Shield and have a home Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinal on top of capping as many players as we have means a lot to us.
“We are really excited about the future and the new generation of players coming through, but right now it’s all about Saturday.
“We want to play the kind of rugby that has got us into this position and repay the incredible support we get with a worthy performance,” he said.
“I’ve always known that this group of players has got something. What they’ve achieved in a very small space of time is remarkable. I mean, they won every tournament they played in, and if they didn’t they were in finals. That’s phenomenal. I knew this group has got it. But I also know that sport is about resilience and going through the difficult times,” says Jake White.
“It’s been a heck of a tough run for all of us. If I look to the back end of last season, I contracted Shingles. Then I fell off my bicycle and broke my collarbone, then I was in hospital with a life-threatening issue with my stomach. The last year has been very trying in terms of me being able to give 100% because of my health. It’s been a test.
“I’ve been coaching for 41 years and that was probably the toughest block I’ve even been through. I can’t remember being under so much pressure performance wise. I’m not talking about pressure from the media or the owners or fans and so on. That’s part and parcel of the job. I’m talking about actual pressure performance wise. We just couldn’t find that last pass, and the problem was never the same thing. We just couldn’t seem to put all the pieces together every single week.”
Stormers vs Bulls: Teams
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 David Kriel, 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Lionel Mapoe.
Match information
Date: Saturday, May 6
Venue: Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 15.30 (13.30 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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