Lions captain Francke Horn is preparing to face the Vodacom Bulls in a "cracker of a game" this weekend, despite both sides missing players due to international duty.
The United Rugby Championship resumes this weekend, and so will the local rivalries, starting on Saturday when the Bulls host the Lions at Loftus Versfeld. The Bulls beat the Lions 31-19 when the teams last met in Pretoria earlier in 2025.
The Lions will be without prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye and scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, who have remained with the Boks ahead of their final tour match against Wales in Cardiff.
The Vodacom Bulls welcome back Handré Pollard, who was released by the Springboks; however, they are still missing Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw, Ruan Nortjé and Gerhard Steenekamp, who remained in Wales.
“I won’t say the Vodacom Bulls are a weaker team despite being without their Springboks. They would’ve also prepared well the last three weeks on what they want to do and how they want to execute.”
“You can have a look at the Bulls also missing some of their Springoks, but if you look at their squad, they possess quality players who played all over the world. Some of them also have international experience and played quite a few games leading up to this weekend.”
“Our preparation went well, and the mindset is where it should be, but I have no doubt that the Bulls did the same during the break. It will be a cracker and a big physical game, and everyone in the team is up for it.”
“We focused on how we’re going to stop their onslaught and what we want to force upon them.”
“It’s a big game we desperately want to win, and from their perspective, they would like to do the same.”
“The Bulls will be up for it and put on a proper performance.”
“We came close to beating the Bulls, especially at Loftus before. We reviewed those matches we saw where the opportunities went astray, where we could’ve clinched the result.”
“It is about Gauteng bragging rights. You get two chances, and you want to take them both.”
