Jannes Kirsten: Bulls set for ‘fight until the death’ in Bayonne Challenge Cup tie

With a partisan home crowd in the stands, the Bulls are prepared for a “hostile environment” in Saturday’s Challenge Cup last-16 clash against Bayonne in France (1.30pm start).

That was the view of flank Jannes Kirsten, who has had his fair share of games in France while spending a few years at English club Exeter Chiefs.

While the 31-year-old hasn’t faced Bayonne previously or visited the Stade Jean Dauger venue, Kirsten expects an intimidating welcome against the French club.

Bayonne are also in good form in the French Top 14, after beating Lyon 28-14 last weekend, and they are fourth on the log after 20 matches, with 12 wins.

They have some hardened veterans in their line-up, including former Springbok loose forward Uzair Cassiem and England centre Manu Tuilagi, who will look to impose themselves on the South Africans from the outset.

But if Jake White’s team can absorb that thunderous start without conceding too many points, they have the ability and firepower to emerge victorious and advance to next week’s quarter-finals.

“I think it will be a hostile environment, because you get passionate support here, and the stadiums are usually full,” Kirsten said from France this week.

“So, it’s loud games... If you think of the game, the lineouts can be overwhelming.

“We kind of have to prepare differently in that way, and make sure that the right calls come through.

“I don’t know much about Bayonne and haven’t played them before, but by the look of things, it is going to be a big set-piece battle.

“The usual French sides have a big pack of forwards, and come scrum-time – and they like to maul a lot.

“We and Bayonne haven’t won anything (in recent years). For both teams, it’s going to be a fight until the death to move onto the next round.

“It’s a playoff, and we’ll be fighting to move onto next week. We are seeing the next few weeks as a kind of a playoff mentality, and we need to do anything to win.”

The Bulls are flying high at the moment, as they scored nine tries in thrashing Zebre 63-24 at Loftus Versfeld last Saturday.

They were able to deal with the Italian side’s spoiling tactics upfront and all-out attacking style at the back to register a comprehensive victory.

The Bulls are expecting a similar approach from Bayonne, and will need their forwards to stand up in the scrums and tight exchanges.

Powerhouse prop Wilco Louw is sure to return at No 3 after playing off the bench against Zebre, while White said star No 8 Cameron Hanekom will also be ready after a back issue.

“Last week, we prepared well, especially at the breakdowns, as Zebre come with all sorts of things... lie on the wrong side to slow the ball down, and things like that,” Kirsten said.

“Those are things you need to prepare for. Bayonne may be a bit different in how they try to break your momentum.

“On attack, we will just have to adapt, and I believe we have plans that will sort that out, so that our rhythm isn’t broken.

“Zebre flourish with turnover ball, so our focus was to not give them a chance to get into the game, as we are playing at Loftus – we are at home, it’s hot and there’s altitude.

“We didn’t want to give them a chance to get momentum. We started well, and later in the game, we didn’t allow them to get back into the game.

“So, it proved that we can do it, and I believe we are fit enough. We are at the coast in France and it’s a bit cooler, so in terms of that, we can take a lot of self-confidence out of that game.

“Hopefully we can deal with the French crowd, as that will be our biggest challenge: to block that out, and focus more on ourselves.

“We need to do the first quarter of the game, and then the second quarter, and move on from there.”