The Bulls will enter their match against the Dragons as favourites given their superior log position and eight victories to only two by the home side in the competition.
Although they have never lost to the team from Newport in their four previous URC encounters, the Bulls will be careful about underestimating their hosts, who come off two important away victories in the EPCR Challenge Cup playoff stages.
The men from Pretoria will draw inspiration from the fact that they have been far superior on attack, although their defence has only been marginally better, with the Bulls conceding only 17 points fewer, meaning it could prove to be a thrilling encounter.
Johan Ackermann’s team remain in the hunt for a top-eight finish, and the coach has said it is a must-win match.
“The reality is we have to win, and we know it,” Ackermann told the media from Newport.
“I don’t even care about the bonus point. Of course a bonus-point win will be the best-case scenario, but we just need to win.”
URC live scoring: Bulls v Dragons
DRAGONS – 15 Cai Evans, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Fetuli Paea, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Harrison Keddie (c), 7 Harry Beddall, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Wyn Jones.
Bench: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Harri Ackerman, 23 Huw Anderson.
BULLS – 15 Devon Williams, 14 David Kriel, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Willie le Roux, 23 Sergeal Petersen.
Match information
Dragons v Bulls
Date: Friday, 17 April
Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
SA Time: 20:45
Referee: Sam Grove-White
TV: SuperSport
