The Bulls' decision to rotate 14 players is rightly being viewed as an invitation to the semi-finals for the Stormers, writes Gavin Rich in The Star.
"That the Bulls are coming to Cape Town with what amounts to a 'B' team has been well documented. Predictably, there has been an outcry, most notably in New Zealand and Australia, where they are rightly indignant at what they see as the Stormers being granted a free passage to a home semifinal.
"As predicted, the Stormers management have reacted by saying that this is the Bulls they are playing against, that the identity of the players wearing the light blue jersey is irrelevant, that they will concentrate on their own game, systems and structures. The Stormers are right to say that; the Bulls are equally correct in responding with a bit of chest-thumping and a promise that they are not coming to the Mother City to blow kisses.
"But at the same time, Stormers coach Allister Coetzee did give it away this week when he admitted that in order to prepare for this match, he had had to study videos of the Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup team in action. That is it in a nutshell - tough though the Bulls players might be on paper, the team shows 14 changes to the one that played the previous week. This team is thus playing together for the first time."
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