Bulls playing for Super 12 survival

Alan Solomons may have had injury problems in finalising his Stormers' pack for Saturday's Super 12 showdown with Heyneke Meyer at Newlands, but it is nothing compared to the turmoil facing his former assistant coach, who is trying to turn the Northern Bulls backline in to a try-scoring machine.

Even allowing for the weather problems that hampered them against Waratahs in last Saturday's defeat, the Bulls have looked singularly inept whenever the ball has got beyond flyhalf Jannie de Beer.

It is a point that Meyer has acknowledged.

At this stage, it seems that right wing Wim Meyer will be the only one of the five three-quarters who will survive Waratahs' defeat.

Speedy Hannes Venter will be at fullback and another quick man, Paul Treu, on the left wing, where he should have a fascinating head-to-head duel with Breyton Paulse.

But by far the most significant pairing is the likely centre combination of Eugene Meyer and Wynand Lourens, teammates from the Gauteng Falcons.

Eugene Meyer ironically learned his rugby at a big union (the Golden Lions), but had to move to one of the smaller unions to gain provincial opportunity.

He is one of the more creative inside backs in South African rugby and it is remarkable he has not been lured away from Falcons.

His selection is a clear indication the Bulls intend playing a more expansive game, particularly as they have retained Russell Nelson in their loose trio ahead of the entirely physical Schutte Bekker.

What is equally clear is that they intend to use Lourens's physical bulk (1,87m and 96kg) at outside centre to put pressure on Stormers' rookie Wayne Julies.

Stormers will certainly be happy to see the Bulls jettison Christo Kruger, who is one of the top young centres in the country and has the skills to put far more pressure on Julies than Lourens will provide.

Julies had little difficulty in dealing with the physical presence of opponents during last year's under-21 World Cup and he was not exposed during the 50 minutes he spent on the field against Grant Esterhuizen, either.

The Boland youngster also has the advantage of having Brendan Venter on his inside. Venter is probably better than any other South African back at marshalling midfield defence.

Ironically, while Bulls will be looking to expose Julies in defence, it is Stormers who will be looking to him to show his skills on the attack.

Like Paulse, Robbie Fleck and Percy Montgomery, he is the type of player who normally scores or creates more points than he concedes in any given match and that is the way Stormers need to go.

Montgomery, for example, made six points out of nothing against Cats with two of the most unlikely dropped goals imaginable.

If Bulls intend to play the ball wide, then it will make life a lot easier for Stormers to do the same.

It takes two to tango and one can only imagine how keen the likes of Paulse and Pieter Rossouw are to tango right now.

The bigger picture of the Super 12 is that it amounts to three months of national trials.

And it will come as no surprise if national coach Nick Mallett has reminded Solomons and Meyer, who are his two chief assistants, of the need to play as expansive a game as possible.

It was encouraging indeed to hear new No 8 Janneman Brand describe himself as a creative player, because that is what Stormers have lost throughTokkie Kasselman's hamstring injury.

"There are times when you need to drive the ball as a loose forward," he admitted. "But I have always regarded myself as a creative player and I enjoy running in support of the backs.

"When you think of the quality of the Stormers three-quarters, then that is the only way that I want to play."

That must be the way Solomons must encourage his men to play. The backs must get good, quick ball and that can come from a strong scrum or lineout as much as it can from a second- or third-phase situation.

The modern law does not allow the loose-forward to break early from a set scrum and it is precisely this phase that allows backs to take on backs in man-on-man combat situations.

If Stormers allow the game to become another goalkicking duel between Braam van Straaten and Jannie de Beer, then they could find themselves in a lot of trouble.

Bulls are playing for Super 12 survival and they will find that extra bit of fight in a close-scoring encounter.

If Stormers make full and proper use of the superior experience and quality of their backline, then there is really only one team that can win this one.

Teams

Stormers: Percy Montgomery, Breyton Paulse, Wayne Julies, Brendan Venter, Pieter Rossouw, Braam van Straaten, David von Hoesslin; Janneman Brand, Hendrik Gerber, Corne Krige, Hottie Louw, Wayne Boardman, Cobus Visagie, Charl Marais, Robbie Kempson. Substitutes: Robert Markram, De Wet Barry, Dan van Zyl, Chean Roux, Julian Barnard, Toks van der Linde, Johan van Wyk.

Northern Bulls (probable): Hannes Venter, Wim Meyer, Wynand Lourens, Eugene Meyer, Paul Treu, Jannie de Beer, Bennie Nortje, Anton Leonard, Russell Nelson, Piet Joubert, Matt Frank, Krynauw Otto, Jaco Espag, Naka Drotske, Os du Randt. Substitutes: Casper Steyn, Jaco van der Westhuizen, Stanley Raubenheimer, Schutte Bekker, Marius Bosman, Sias Wagner, Jannie Brooks.

The referee is Andre Watson and kick-off is at 5.15pm