Bulls must avoid 'set-piece battle'

The two teams - who go head-to-head in Sydney on Saturday - are both desperate to stay in Super Rugby's play-off race and with just six rounds of the regular season remaining, the words 'must win' are more frequently coming into use.

The Bulls are currently in the sole wildcard position reserved for the African conference - with the Stormers (top of Africa One) and Lions (top of Africa Two) in the automatic qualifying positions.

The Waratahs, currently in 10th place on the global standings, have the Chiefs, Highlanders and Hurricanes ahead of them in the Australasian wildcard positions - with the Crusaders (New Zealand Conference) and Brumbies (Australian Conference) currently the automatic qualifiers.

Last week the Bulls suffered only their second defeat of the season, when the Brumbies outmuscled them.

And they took all the lessons from the disappointing performance in Canberra to heart.

Bulls coach Nollis Marais swapped the halfback combinations - with Rudy Paige and Tian Schoeman starting in Sydney.

Marais said he expects Paige and Schoeman to "bring something different" against the Waratahs.

"We have to get momentum this week and ensure we are very competitive the next three weeks," he said of their run-in to the June break (for the mid-year internationals) - which will see them take on the Tahs this week, before hosting the Stormers and Lions in Pretoria on consecutive Saturdays.

"We know the next three games will be very tough, but we are confident we can win this game," he said.

Marais admitted much of their problems at the breakdown last week can be attributed to poor execution from the line-outs and having lost the first-phase battle.

The Waratahs will have taken notice of the Bulls' set-piece shortcomings and the Bulls expect the Waratahs to put them under pressure in that department.

"We've learnt a lot from last week and we have put a few things in place to ensure we handle it better this week," the Bulls coach said, when asked about the set pieces.

"We have looked how they have played the whole season and we know where we feel we can target them.

"If we are going to make it a first-phase battle we will always have problems.

"If we can play more like we want to play, get into the tramlines and play from there, it will be a much better battle."

Marais described the Waratahs - who have gained some momentum and are on a three-match winning streak, after losing four of their first six outings - as a good side.

"Yes, they had a few losses early in the season," Marais said, adding: "But against the Highlanders they trailed 0-30 [after 55 minutes] and came back to just lose 26-30.

"There were results that did not go their way, but they are always a dangerous side.

"If you give them possession and allow them to dominate the breakdown, then players like [Israel] Folau will come into the game and it will be a long day at the office for us."

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