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Coetzee: Forward battle

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Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee has backed his side to on the Bulls upfront in Saturday's Super 14 final.

The Bulls has built their success around their forward strength - with the likes of Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Pierre Spies and Gary Botha having impressed.

However Coetzee, who has recalled prop JC Kritzinger to the bench after four weeks out with a calf injury, is confident his side can match their South African rivals in the scrum.

"It's great to have JC back, as we've said from the beginning he's the second-choice loosehead and can also cover tighthead," said Coetzee.

"It's because of the quality of the player that we didn't pick five forwards on the bench.

"The Bulls like to apply pressure at the set-pieces, but we feel we're well covered at the scrum with JC, Wicus Blaauw and Brok Harris in the squad.

Change

"There are no problems with the scrum, and I think the Bulls will scrum positively, unlike the Waratahs."

Coetzee is expecting former Bulls winger Bryan Habana to be fit for the game despite missing training with a cold.

The Bulls have made just one change to their line-up for the match, with Gerhard van den Heever returning from suspension to start on the wing.

Jaco van der Westhuyzen makes way and drops to the bench, with Stephan Dippenaar missing out as coach Frans Ludeke opts for a 5-2 split among his replacements.

Jacques-Louis Potgieter is the other back on the bench, with Bandise Maku, Bees Roux, Flip van der Merwe, Derick Kuün and Pedrie Wannenburg covering the forwards.

Francois Hougaard, Danie Rossouw, Wynand Olivier and Fourie du Preez have all been passed fit for the clash after injury scares.

Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen; 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan De Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana; 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Willem De Waal, 22 Tim Whitehead.

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuün, 20 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 21 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 22 Pedrie Wannenburg.

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