Sadie, Hougaard to spark Bulls

Mar 20 • General News, International, National, Super Rugby, Super Rugby News • 2435 Views • Comments Off on Sadie, Hougaard to spark Bulls

Johann Sadie captured minutes after making his much anticipated debut for the Vodacom Bulls against The Sharks at Loftus Versfeld. Photo by Anton Geyser/ Rugby15

Carlo Botha – The Vodacom Bulls will be looking at midfielder Johann Sadie to help ignite the much needed spark they need at Loftus Versfeld when they face the defending champions, the Reds on the weekend.

Sadie missed three weeks of Super Rugby due to a shoulder injury he sustained in their opening game of the 2012 competition against The Sharks. The youngster who showed much promise at Western Province last year, will in all probability be included in the Bulls match day 22 after he was cleared of injury in the week. Sadie hasn’t had the chance to show why his move from Cape Town to Pretoria was treated with such high anticipation from the Loftus faithful.

The return of Francois Hougaard after his one week suspension is also good news for the former 3-time Super Rugby champion side and he looks set to return to No 9 in place of Jano Vermaak. The battle between Hougaard and Will Genia of the Reds will be a battle of some note. This battle will most likely be repeated when the Boks face the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld later this year.

Pierre Spies made no excuses after his side’s defeat against the Blues in their previous fixture and the fact that their execution will have to be better if they are to be declared winners come 7 o’clock on Saturday night.

Everybody wearing blue or pink jerseys in the stand on the weekend will be hoping that their kingpin flyhalf and match winner, Morne Steyn will also be back to his old self after missing some crucial kicks in the game against the Blues. Knowing the standards that Steyn sets for himself I think we can be assured of a much improved performance this week.

With the Bulls wanting to win this game badly after the slip up against the Blues and the Reds losing to The Sharks in their last encounter this sure looks like a mouth watering fixture with both sides wanting to get back to winning ways.

Kick-off is at 17:05 CAT, Saturday, 24 March 2012