Matfield believes Bulls' better coaching will trump Sharks' star power in URC showdown

Star power doesn't always trump a well-coached collective.

And that's the main reason why Bulls and Springbok legend believes his former franchise will triumph over the Sharks in this weekend's United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final against the Sharks at Loftus.

After trailing them for the majority of the regular season on the log, Jake White's troops eventually slipped ahead of the Durbanites in the final round of fixtures, suggesting overall that they're timing their form better than their coastal counterparts.

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"The Bulls must be the favourites going into this game," Matfield said at the launch of SA Rugby's partnership with Betway to further enhance the local women's game.

"On paper, the Sharks definitely have a fantastic team, it's just that we haven't seen their star players consistently reach the level of play that they're capable of.

"At the moment, I believe the Bulls are the team that's better coached. They know how they wanna play and how they wanna win. The Bulls will have the upper hand."

However, the peerless line-out technician, who played 140 times for the Bulls in Super Rugby and collected 127 Bok caps, is pragmatic enough to keep in mind that the Sharks have proven the Bulls' toughest opponent locally over the past two years.

"They've battled against the Sharks a few times before, but I think, especially at Loftus, the Bulls have to be the favourites," he said.

"The games that the Bulls have struggled against the Sharks in, is when they started off too loose.

"The Bulls are very good when they start off with a forwards dominated game - with their line-out maul, their scrum - then from there they can play a more