The first playoff round of the EPCR Challenge Cup did not get off to a good start for SA teams as Edinburgh claimed a comfortable win over the Lions, but first up for the South African sides on Saturday will be the Bulls’ battle against Bayonne.
Jake White’s team come off a morale-boosting three-match winning streak in the URC – one of which was a rewarding 21-20 victory against Irish powerhouse Leinster – a trend they would like to build on they prepare for the business end of both the EPCR Challenge Cup and URC respectively.
They will also draw inspiration from the fact that they have proven they can win on the road, with victories against the Ospreys, Benetton, and Connacht in the URC.
They also registered a comprehensive 48-7 victory against Stade Francais in the Investec Champions Cup in Pretoria – the same side that defeated Bayonne by 31-27 two weeks ago in the Top 14.
Bayonne v Bulls
Date: Saturday, 5 April
Venue: Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
SA Time: 13h30
Referee: Christophe Ridley
TV: SuperSport
Challenge Cup | Live scoring: Bulls v Bayonne
The Bulls, who are currently in third place on the URC table with 10 victories in 14 matches, will back themselves against Bayonne despite winning only one of their four pool matches in the Champions Cup, compared to three victories out of four by the opposition in the EPCR Challenge Cup this season.
They will, however, have to deliver a quality display on attack and defence to emerge victorious as the hosts come off back-to-back wins in the competition and will have full faith in their abilities as fourth-placed team in the Top 14, who will also be playing in front of their passionate home crowd and in vastly different conditions to that which the Pretoria outfit are used to in South Africa.
Teams
Aviron Bayonnais: 15 Cheikh Tiberghien, 14 Nadir Megdoud, 13 Arnaud Erbinartegaray, 12 Federico Mori, 11 Xan Mousques, 10 Tom Spring, 9 Baptiste Germain, 8 Giovanni Habel-Kuffner (captain), 7 Rémi Bourdeau, 6 Noa Traversier, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Veikoso Poloniati, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Lucas Martin, 1 Pierre Castillon.
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Martin Villar, 18 Pieter Scholtz, 19 Denis Marchois, 20 Lucas Paulos, 21 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 22 Baptiste Tilloles, 23 Aurélien Callandret.
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Reinhardt Ludwig, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Stedman Gans.
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Sara Cox (England) & Jack Makepeace (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
WHAT IS YOUR SCORE PREDICTION?
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