Bulls to stamp their authority on Force

With the second-placed Stormers and third-placed Crusaders enjoying a bye weekend, the Bulls have a chance to put clear daylight between themselves and their pursuers in week seven of the Super 14.

The Bulls, current leaders of the standings with 24 points, meet the Western Force in Perth tomorrow in the first of four away games after a run of five matches in South Africa.

The Bulls can even afford to lose, as they will still be guaranteed top position at the conclusion of the weekend's action, but losing is not in their vocabulary right now.

The Force, on the other hand, have yet to win a game in five outings, having been ravaged by injuries, and their coach John Mitchell won't be staying on after this season. These are stormy times in Perth and the Bulls have to exploit any weaknesses.

A victory tomorrow would leave them at least five points clear of the chasing pack before they enter the more difficult phase of their campaign in New Zealand, against the Blues and the Chiefs.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke resisted excessive tampering with a winning formula when he made only one change for the Force encounter. Centre Jaco Pretorius has recovered from injury and will don the No13 jersey in place of Stephan Dippenaar.

The Bulls lost in Perth in 2008 when they went down 15-14, but in 2006, the first time they played a Super Rugby match in Australia's most westerly city, they won 30-21 on their way to a semifinal place.

Despite the Force's poor season so far, Ludeke and senior players Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez have repeated their standard mantra that "they're taking it one game at a time". It's a cliché but the Bulls genuinely live up to the phrase. Complacency won't be an issue.

The Sharks will be aiming to build on last week's 30-16 win over the Highlanders in Dunedin when they meet the Hurricanes in Wellington. Their hosts are reeling on the back of three losses in South Africa and will also be suffering the effects of a long journey back to the north island.

Last week saw the Sharks' first win of a luckless campaign that has seen them lose four matches by five points or less.

"We've had a thorough review of the game [against the Highland-ers] and there is still plenty for us to work on; there are still some things we're not happy with," Sharks coach John Plumtree said.

"We're playing a different ani-mal this weekend in the Hurricanes, who are coming off three losses and are back at home, so they need to get their campaign back on track."

The Lions end their arduous road trip against the Highlanders in Dunedin today. While the Highlanders are arguably New Zea-land's worst franchise, it's unlikely the Lions have the firepower or will power to cause an upset.