Africa-Press – South-Africa. Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani believes the better team selection approach between them and the Bulls’ will be revealed when the two sides meet in the United Rugby Championship (URC) in Cape Town on Friday (19:15 kick-off).
Bulls director of rugby Jake White overhauled his team for the Champions Cup against Lyon and Exeter in the last fortnight, playing a relatively junior outfit filled with what would be Currie Cup players dotted with less than a handful of veteran Springboks.
The Stormers, meanwhile, mixed and matched their team according to squad availability and game time in their two Champions Cup matches versus Clermont away and London Irish at home. But they largely retained their core.
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Both teams won one game and lost one, but the proof of whose plan is stronger will be revealed in Friday night’s pudding.
“We’ll have to wait and see on Friday night but people have their own plans and we have ours like the Bulls have,” said Hlungwani.
“We back our plans like they back theirs and we’ll just have to wait and see on the day which approach works.
“We’re quite confident and happy with how we’ve prepared and planned over the past couple of weeks.
“It wasn’t just about the coming game this weekend; it was a long-term-ish plan and we’ve stuck by it and we’re quite happy with where we are.”
Hlungani said he wasn’t sure whether the move to rest 21 senior Bulls players was Jake’s way of making it “personal” between the Stormers and Bulls.
The two last met during the URC final that the Stormers won to lift their first international franchise trophy in their history in June.
“I’m not sure [if it’s personal],” Hlungwani said.
“It could be anything. It could be them wanting a different group of players to experience Champions Cup rugby and another team in the URC.
“We have no idea and we don’t know what will run out of the tunnel on Friday. But we just need to make sure we’re nice and ready to face whoever comes out.
“I’m not sure … whether they’re investing in beating us or investing in their team to play more in the URC than the Champions Cup. All we can do is speculate.”
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