The Vodacom Bulls will look to start their tour on a high as they seek their third victory in a row and try to take advantage of Ospreys’ dented spirits after their one-sided 23-00 defeat against Munster last week. The match will kick off on Saturday at 20:35 (SA Time) at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The Bulls are only one point short of a full house of points in their first two games, but they will be wary of the Welsh side, who went down by a narrow two points against the Dragons away in their first game this season before beating the DHL Stormers by 37-24.
They will, however, be aware of the fact that the hosts are capable of delivering a far better performance than their 23-0 drubbing against Munster last week, which they will still be hurting from, and this will certainly fuel their motivation to make a strong a strong statement and possibly jump into the top eight on the table.
The Vodacom Bulls, however, will have all the motivation they need to register a victory, as it would not only set them in good stead for their upcoming matches against the Scarlets and Benetton - which they will back themselves to win, especially with those two teams currently ranked in the bottom three on the table – but a win would ensure that they remain in the top eight.
Boosting the Vodacom Bulls’ confidence, they will enter the match with better statistics on attack and defence, something they will look to build on this week, while they will also look to stretch their winning streak against Ospreys to four matches after beating them home and away since 2022.
Ospreys coach Toby Booth said: “When you play South African teams, you know you’re going to be in for a physical encounter. You can’t look too far past the physical side of the breakdown. Last time we played them out there, we did some nice stuff, but we weren’t accurate enough and played a big price. I know the boys will be energised and up for this one but it’s important that we have the end product to show for that."
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Iestyn Hopkins, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas. Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Lewis Jones, 20 Will Greatbanks, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Luke Scully, 23 Jack Walsh.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.