The Bulls are approaching this season's Champions Cup with a very different mindset to last year's bruising campaign. Johan Ackermann is now properly embedded, the Bok contingent is settled and match-ready, and a 50-point derby demolition of the Lions has added confidence. Elrigh Louw — back after a 10-month knee injury — speaks for the group when he says last season's home slip against Bordeaux-Bègles still stings, and that the 'why are South African sides even in this competition' narrative has provided extra motivation. The Bulls open at home against a Stade Français side that arrives injury-hit and unlikely to prioritise a road trip, but Louw is under no illusions about the French forward threat. He also welcomes World Rugby's hip-drop tackle ban — the very type of incident that nearly ended his career — framing it as a clear win for player safety. The piece frames Saturday's Loftus clash as more than a round-one fixture; it's a statement of intent from a Bulls squad that believes it belongs among Europe's best.
Louw and the Bulls serve notice ahead of Champions Cup opener
Elrigh Louw makes the case that a settled Bulls squad — Boks included — is ready to back up their Champions Cup ambitions with results, starting at home against Stade Français on Saturday.
- Vodacom Bulls
- Emirates Lions
- Elrigh Louw
- Loftus Versfeld
SA Rugby pursues legal action against travel agencies over Cape Town ticket fraud
SA Rugby has turned the matter of fraudulent ticket sales for the Cape Town Greatest Rivalry Test over to its attorneys, after travel agencies sold tickets they had no authorisation to provide and then falsely attributed the failures to SARU.
Louw starts against Argentina after defying career-ending injury fears
Elrigh Louw starts for the Springboks against Argentina on Saturday after defying career-ending fears following a broken leg and torn knee ligaments sustained in January, with the 26-year-old crediting the motivation of returning to Test rugby as the driving force behind his ahead-of-schedule rehabilitation.
World Rugby confirms match officials for Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour
World Rugby has confirmed the match officials for all eight Rugby's Greatest Rivalry fixtures, with Matthew Carley, Nika Amashukeli, Angus Gardner and Karl Dickson sharing the four Test appointments and the provincial games between them.
Rassie redefines the No.8 role — and has a surprising list of candidates to fill it
Erasmus has stripped the No.8 role back to its scrum function only, rejecting the traditional link-between-forwards-and-backs tag — and that philosophy opens the door to some unconventional candidates while Kwagga Smith recovers.
Five reasons the Springbok-All Black series is tighter than the rankings suggest
Planet Rugby maps five fault lines across the upcoming four-Test series — fly-half vulnerability, the Kolisi/de Villiers rotation question, Erasmus's seeding of Boks into provincial opposition, Scotland's attacking blueprint from Loftus, and whether altitude is a real factor or convenient excuse — arguing the ranking gap between the sides is far smaller than the July form suggests.