Champions Cup: Ruan Nortje captains Bulls against Stade Francais

The Springbok lock makes his return after a two-month-long absence and at a time when his team wants to give the European campaign a fight for the ages.

The Tshwane outfit will take on their French counterparts with their hopes set on qualifying for the EPCR Challenge Cup. The match kicks off at 15:00 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

"There is a lot to play for," said Bulls director of rugby Jake White.

"Can we hold them and win by 22 points? Can we keep them to scoring less than four tries and stay 22 points ahead? There are a lot of learnings that we can get out of this game. There is never a dead rubber when the Bulls are playing, and that says a lot about us as a franchise. We need 22 points, and that is our goal."

White added: "The EPCR Challenge Cup is all or nothing for us. We want to win and that opportunity for us is now on the Challenge Cup.

"Itâ™s not a dead rubber for anyone, it will be an interesting one for the supporters too because the numbers will change with each point scored.

On the opposite side, Stade Francais Paris, the Bulls mentor remarks: "They are going to do everything in their power to get that single point that they need.

"Every time they get three, it becomes tougher for us and that is going to be a test for us as a group and it will be interesting to see how we handle that decision-making process."

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