By Hamish McKay
A sell-out in Soweto is on the cards for Sunday morning’s Crusaders versus Bulls Super 14 semi-final.
The match is being played at the 40,000 capacity Orlando Stadium in Soweto – because the Bulls' home ground in Pretoria is being used for the Football World Cup.
The Crusaders have arrived in the republic with a fully fit squad.
“What a unique occasion to play in Soweto,” says Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder.
“We’re pretty excited and we’ll probably never ever get to do this again in our lives.”
Blackadder doesn’t think his team gets any advantage from the different venue.
“For them, they’re at home, and this is semi final football and you put all that stuff behind you,” he says.
The Crusaders have plenty of confidence and rightly so after they galloped all over the Brumbies.
But it won’t have set the alarm bells off in the Bulls camp – they were already ringing a week earlier when the defending champions beat the Red and Blacks with a debatable overtime try.
“You know, we’ve had a bit of a grey patch and we’re coming into some good form,” says Blackadder.
He has yet to name his team to play the Bulls, but it is unlikely Blackadder will change a winning formula.
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