Schalk Brits said the DHL Stormers have to dominate the physical battle and box clever on attack to beat the Vodacom Bulls when the teams clash on Saturday.
The north-south rivals lock horns in a mouth-watering derby clash in Cape Town, with the Bulls in third position on the Vodacom URC standings after five wins and two defeats, and the Stormers in 10th.
Jake White’s charges are favoured to end their drought against the Stormers after six failed attempts to down the SA Shield holders since the URC launched in 2021.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with fellow former Springboks Rudy Paige and Juan de Jongh on the Behind the Ruck podcast, Brits believes the Stormers must dominate the set pieces while attacking the Bulls’ strength to lay the platform for the Capetonians’ electric backs to shine.
Brits, who featured for both local giants over a 17-year professional career that included a successful spell at Saracens in England, also wants the Stormers to be clever in their analysis of the Bulls while seizing every opportunity to apply pressure.
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“It starts with the set piece; the pretty boys in the backline look pretty when the guys with the bellies dominate,” the 15-Test hooker said. “The one thing you have to attack when it comes from the Bulls perspective is definitely their strength.
“Make sure you dominate, and that’s the only way you can beat them. You have to dominate from a lineout, from a scrum perspective, and you need to be clever in the way you attack as well.
“What I saw from Saracens [in the Champions Cup at Loftus Versfeld] is they put a lot of guys back because they thought the Bulls would kick, and they didn’t. The old Bulls would kick that, now they start running. You have to be clever in the way you analyse the Bulls.”
Brits added: “From a Stormers perspective you have to ensure you get the set piece right, and take the opportunities that’s there to be taken. Yes, the Bulls can make a lot of unforced errors, but that happens with pressure.
“So how do the Stormers start well? They use the energy that the crowd will give them, they bring a massive intensity in the first 10, 15 minutes and start building scoreboard pressure against the Bulls, that you actually then ask them to start running – not because they want to but because they’re behind on the scoreboard.”
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