Bulls v Stade Français: discipline in focus at Loftus
The Bulls open their Champions Cup campaign on Saturday in Pretoria. Elrigh Louw wants a win at home and no penalties that let the Parisians camp near the tryline.
Contribution SNA · Author profile ·
Listen to this story
Synthetic English voice · 2 min 46 s
File photo: Bulls players in Parma, 4 November 2023. Stefano Delfrate / CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adapted (margins and SNA logo), published under the same licence. This image does not show the 17 October 2026 match.
.jpg){kind=link}
Win at home first: that is the priority the Bulls have set before hosting Stade Français on Saturday 17 October 2026 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Ahead of this first Champions Cup fixture, Elrigh Louw also stresses a very practical problem: penalties that let the opposition camp near the tryline.
Kick-off is scheduled for 14:00 in Pretoria, which is 13:00 in Brazzaville. The competition features 24 clubs and opens its season over the weekend of 16 to 18 October. The Bulls face French opposition to begin their campaign.
Making Loftus a foothold
In comments published on 14 October on the Bulls' official website, Louw sets out his priorities: win at home first, then make a mark on the road. He says his side take the competition seriously and want to win it. That is a stated aim, not a guarantee of results.
The fixture list underlines Loftus's importance to this campaign: after Stade Français, the Bulls play at Montpellier on 12 December 2026, host Bath on 9 January 2027, then travel to Northampton on 15 January 2027.
Penalties: the thing to watch
Louw above all anticipates a battle between the forwards, the eight players in the pack. He highlights the strength of French sides in the scrum and in mauls: the formations where the ball carrier stays on his feet, bound in by team-mates and opponents. His warning is about discipline, because penalties can hand the opposition attacking positions inside the 22 metres, near the tryline.
A penalty can be used to gain ground: the side awarded it can kick the ball into touch, beyond the touchline, and then take the throw at the restart. That gives them a chance to attack closer to the opposition line without having had to cover that distance with the ball in hand. It explains why a defensive infringement can cost more than the points a kicker might try to score.
To follow this match, then, there will be two markers: the resistance of the Bulls forwards and the positions that their discipline, or their infringements, hand the Parisians. Louw has laid down that challenge before a ball is kicked; the answer will come on the pitch on Saturday.