Acid test for Pollard against Carter

27 March 2015 - 02:01 By Chumani Bambani, Craig Ray and Khanyiso Tshwaku

We will again see a master-versus -pupil showdown when the Bulls take on the Crusaders at Loftus Versfeld tomorrow night. Bulls vs CrusadersSo far this season at Loftus we have seen Super rugby battles between Victor Matfield and Pieter-Steph du Toit, we have witnessed Arno Botha taking on Duane Vermeulen and then Jan Serfontein clashing with veteran All Blacks centre Ma'a Nonu.But the most exciting of the battles will perhaps be fought tomorrow night when Bulls flyhalf Handré Pollard squares up to All Blacks veteran Dan Carter.This will be the 21-year-old Pollard's first game against the Crusaders since making his Super rugby debut last season. It is likely to be a baptism of fire for him in his maiden clash against the New Zealanders for whom Carter returns to the No10 jersey after an injury layoff and a start at inside centre in recent weeks."Handré Pollard is a really good player, isn't he? I saw him in New Zealand at the under-20 tournament and I remember thinking what an exciting talent he is," Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said yesterday."Dan (Carter) hasn't been in the team for a while, so he's excited. I think it's good for a young man to play an old warrior like Dan." Highlanders vs StormersIN 17 meetings between the Stormers and the Highlanders, each team has won eight and there has been one draw, which suggests there will be little in it when they clash in Dunedin tomorrow.But there have been two distinct periods of dominance in this contest since they first met in 1998.There was the age of the Highlanders, who won eight of the first 11 contests between 1998 and 2007, with only two defeats and a draw.Then it all started to go wrong for the New Zealanders while the Stormers emerged as one of SA's powerhouses.The last six meetings since 2008 have all been won by the Stormers, including a landmark 18-11 win at the old "House of Pain" in 2009.There is never an easy time to travel to New Zealand's south island but, as a first tour stop after flying from Cape Town it couldn't be tougher.The Stormers have been preparing in Queenstown and will arrive in Dunedin today.They will also go into the contest without talismanic leader Duane Vermeulen at No8.He is rested as part of an agreement with Saru, with centre Juan de Jongh taking over the captaincy.Without Vermeulen's presence up front, it's as well that flank Schalk Burger makes his first start of the campaign after two appearances off the bench.Nizaam Carr moves to No8 with Siya Kolisi shifting into the open-side flank role.Coach Allister Coetzee has also rejigged the halfbacks with Nic Groom and Demetri Catrakilis returning after Louis Schreuder and Kurt Coleman started against the Chiefs two weeks ago.Bok lock Eben Etzebeth is back in the mix among the reserves. Sharks vs The ForceSharks director of rugby Gary Gold's hunch of picking Frans Steyn at flyhalf for tomorrow's clash with the Force has paid off.Steyn is involved in a Sanzar appeal after he was cleared of foul play and a red card for a tackle on Aaron Cruden, but that hearing is on Tuesday.Steyn's red card was rescinded by Judicial Hearing Chairman Jannie Lubbe SC, Gold knew he might lose Steyn for the game, but selected him to start anyway. Losing Steyn would have been a blow as Pat Lambie is being rested as per Saru's deal with the franchises ahead of the World Cup.In other positional switches Renaldo Bothma is at blindside flank, Kyle Cooper comes in for the suspended Bismarck du Plessis and Jean Deysel makes a surprise return as captain in the No7 jersey.Andre Esterhuizen and Conrad Hoffman fill the voids left by Steyn and Cobus Reinach at centre and scrumhalf respectively.The restOther SA teams playing this weekend are the Lions - looking for their third win out of four games on tour - against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium today, and the Cheetahs against the Chiefs at Waikato Stadium tomorrow.Super 15 FixturesTodayHurricanes vs Rebels (8.35am)Reds vs Lions (11am)TomorrowChiefs vs Cheetahs (5.30am)Highlanders vs Stormers (8.35am)Waratahs vs Blues (10.40am)Sharks vs Force (5.05pm)Bulls vs Crusaders (7.10pm)..

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