The Blue Bulls dare to tread on the territory of the EP Kings this Saturday.
The Eastern Province Kings rugby side meet the men from the North, The Blue Bulls, in a friendly clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this Saturday 29 January 2011 at 19h00.
Tickets have been selling well with 14 500 sold at lunchtime today and the stadium management confident of being able to handle a rush on ticket sales for the rest of this week.
Both teams will be fielding 9 replacements each at the request of the Bulls and with the agreement of EP Rugby.
The local team has been plagued with a number of injuries with key men in the form of; Captain, Mzwandile Stick (out with a knee niggle), De Wet Barry (still on the bench until the end of March after a shoulder op), Wayne Stevens (foot ligament damage will keep him off the field for a week or two) and Jaco Bekker (a wrenched knee puts him out for 3 to 4 weeks).
The Super Rugby champs will field a strong side with many of their star players making the trip to the coast for this much anticipated ‘friendly’.
EP Kings Coach, Alan Solomons admitted that; “The game is going to be a big challenge for the home team”. Asked to comment on the expectations of the local supporters, Solomons said; “The Eastern Cape public do have high expectations of the Kings being competitive and we want to show the public that we are a competitive team.”
ex Bulls player, Jaco Engels, highlighted that the Bulls have great depth as they have had a steady flow of players into their franchise for the last ten years but highlighted that Saturday’s game was; “…a big challenge for the younger players to play against experienced super rugby players,” which would lead to “….playing attractive rugby”.
The gates open at 12h00 and two curtain raisers will be played at 14h30 and 16h00 whilst the main event will be played and televised live from 19h00.
Entertainment, beer tents, school rugby and musicians are planned for the day.
And, MyPE has a message for the Blue Bulls; “Have a look at our OP Manne below, commit their images to your memories, want ons gaan ons bes probeer om julle dik to donner hierdie Saterdag manne!“.
| Number | EP Kings | Blue Bulls |
| 1 | Jaco Engels | Dean Greyling |
| 2 | Hannes Franklin | Henri Bantjes |
| 3 | Andre Schlechter | Werner Kruger |
| 4 | Rory Duncan (Captain) | Flip vd Merwe |
| 5 | Barend Pieterse | Jeandre Kruger |
| 6 | Devin Oosthuizen | Derick Kuün |
| 7 | Mpho Mbiyozo | CJ Stander |
| 8 | Darren Nel (Vice Captain) | Gerrit-Jan van Velze |
| 9 | Jaques Coetzee | Ruan Snyman |
| 10 | Monty Dumond | Francois Brummer |
| 11 | Norman Nelson | Sampie Masriet |
| 12 | Mathew Tayler-Smith | Stefan Watermeyer |
| 13 | Siyanda Grey | Stefan Dippenaar |
| 14 | Paul Perez | Akona Ndungane |
| 15 | Tiger Mangweni | Jaco vd Westhuyzen |
| 16 | Jaco Fourie | Hans van Dyk |
| 17 | Ronnie Uys | Frik Kirsten |
| 18 | Ross Kennedy | Fudge Mabeta |
| 19 | Lungelo Payi | Okkie Kruger |
| 20 | Marlon Lewis | Tendayi Chikukwa |
| 21 | Shane Gates | Dustin Jinka |
| 22 | SP Marais | Louis Fouche |
| 23 | Riaan Vermeulen | Bradley Moolman |
| 24 | Frank Herne | Courtnall Skosan |
Alan Straton
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