Bulls ready for the challenge Cheetahs veterans Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar will bring to Loftus

Cape Town - Any team that boasts veteran Springboks such as Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar in their team won’t be easy-beats, and that is exactly the big challenge facing the Bulls when they take on the Cheetahs today (5.45pm kick-off).

Both teams are unbeaten in the Currie Cup, but this Loftus Versfeld clash is likely to be the toughest so far for the defending champions after comfortable wins over the Pumas and Western Province.

The Cheetahs don’t have to manage their players for the United Rugby Championship as well, so they are at full force for the Currie Cup, while the Bulls mix and match every week between the two competitions.

Bulls coach Gert Smal did so once more when naming his team yesterday, reintroducing Stedman Gans at outside centre and Stravino Jacobs at left wing, while there is a 19-year-old rookie No 7 in Cameron Hanekom.

Many of the Bulls starters are bench players in the URC, such as flyhalf Chris Smith, lock Janko Swanepoel and tighthead Robert Hunt, who will all be keen to impress director of rugby Jake White ahead of Saturday’s URC clash against the Lions in Pretoria.

And their performances should carry greater gravitas, considering they’re up against Steyn, Pienaar, Clayton Blommetjies and Rosko Specman.

Smal said that Gans, who hasn’t had much game time in recent months, is “quite an exciting player … I think he now needs an opportunity to see what he can do”.

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On the Cheetahs, the former Bok assistant coach added: “It starts upfront, and we know what the Cheetahs are all about. They’ve got very talented players, and some experienced players there as well, with Ruan and Frans – and a massive kicking