It will be a tough mission for the New South Welshmen though – they have not won in Pretoria since 2002 and the Vodacom Bulls will be looking to maintain this winning run against the 2014 champions.

Pote Human, the Vodacom Bulls’ coach, has kept his forward pack unchanged while making a few changes in the backline for the 15h05 clash at Loftus Versfeld.

Johnny Kotze moves from the wing to midfield where he replaces injured Springbok Jesse Kriel, who underwent an ankle operation earlier in the week. 

Jade Stighling suffered a concussion in the Vodacom Bulls’ one-point loss to the DHL Stormers last weekend, which means a return to the starting line-up for the wing pairing of Rosko Specman and Cornal Hendricks.

Update: In a late change, Burger Odendaal withdrew from the Vodacom Bulls' team - Dylan Sage will start at inside centre with Divan Rossouw on the bench.

What they said:

 Pote Human, the Vodacom Bulls coach, said his team will be looking put together a good performance at home following last week’s loss in Cape Town: “We want to be strong, physical and clinical at home and play the sort of rugby that we are capable of.”

The teams:

Vodacom Bulls (updated): 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Dylan Sage, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handré Pollard (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Divan Rossouw.

Waratahs: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Cam Clark, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Karmichael Hunt, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ned Hanigan, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lachlan Swinton, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Tom Staniforth, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Harry Johnson-Holmes. Replacements: 16 Andrew Tuala, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Chris Talakai, 19 Hugh Sinclair, 20 Will Miller, 21 Jake Gordon, 22 Lalakai Foketi, 23 Alex Newsome.

Head to head:
Played: 19
Vodacom Bulls won: 9
Waratahs won: 10
Vodacom Bulls points: 417
Waratahs points: 516
Average score: 22-27

Match information:
Date: Saturday, 4 May 2019
SA time: 15h05
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Rasta Rasivhenge, Griffin Colby
Television Match Official: Christie du Preez
TV: SuperSport1