Bulls announce sell-out Loftus for derby

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The Vodacom Bulls have confirmed that a record-breaking capacity has been reached at Loftus Versfeld for the derby against the DHL Stormers on Saturday.

Having reported that only 120 tickets were available when they announced their team at midday on Friday, the Vodacom Bulls confirmed at 2pm that Loftus Versfeld was officially sold out for the North-South derby.

This means that a crowd of around 51 000 will be in attendance for the clash, a URC record for a non-playoff match. The DHL Stormers currently hold the record for the highest overall attendance for their URC final against Munster last season (56 334).

“It is a wonderful thing for two South African sides to pull 50 000 people into the stadium for a pool game,” Vodacom Bulls director of rugby Jake White said.

“The players and the people involved are doing their bit for South African rugby.”

Plenty will be on the line for the match, which kicks off at 5pm on Saturday evening. The Vodacom Bulls are in third place on the overall URC table, five points ahead of the sixth-placed Stormers, who are pushing for a third-consecutive top-four finish.

However, the Stormers, unbeaten in local derbies since December 2021, are ahead of the Bulls in the battle for the South African Shield and go into the match on the back of a seven-game winning run against their rivals.

Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images

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