Exclusive: Bulls Expect Century-Old Bayonne to Come Out and Try to Smash Them, says Jannes Kirsten

Aviron Bayonnais are a proud French club that was established in the early years of the previous century. 

Although they have never gone beyond the quarterfinals in European competition, South Africa's Bulls are expecting the side to come out with a clear intent to smash them in their Challenge Cup round of 16 match at Stade Jean Dauger on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulls, South Africa's leading United Rugby Championship contenders, are in the Challenge Cup after bombing out of the group stages of the Champions Cup. 

Bulls seek first win in France

They have never won a game in France, which reveals the size of the challenge before them on Saturday, but is also something they are desperate to do given the great rivalry between the two countries.

"We both come from proud countries and we are all playing to win silverware," utility forward Jannes Kirsten, who played for Exeter Chiefs in European competition, said this week. 

"It hurts to not be winning trophies and neither of these teams have won anything lately. So it's going to be a fight to the death to move on to the next round. Every week now until the end of the URC, we're approaching it with a playoff mentality."

"I played against a few French teams while with Exeter, but not Bayonne. But they are probably similar to the other French sides. There will be a hostile environment on Saturday, they have such passionate supporters and it will be a full and very loud stadium."

"To block out the crowd and focus on ourselves will be our biggest challenge. We've got to prepare well and make sure we hear the calls right. It's going to be a big set-piece battle, they love to scrum, they like to maul," Kirsten told SportsBoom.co.za. 

Silence the crowd early

If you had to look up 'Jannes Kirsten' in a rugby dictionary, it would say an "abrasive tight forward who does the dirty work in defence and at the contact points". The 31-year-old is looking forward to a formidable forward battle and trying to win the war of intimidation against Bayonne.

"It's important that we start well, that's what we focused on last week against Zebre Parma; you start well and then you keep the crowd quiet and then you must not allow them back into the game. We take a lot of self-confidence from last week."

"We've had good preparation at the breakdown points, teams try and make the ball slow and do other stuff, but we had good plans against Zebre, although Bayonne will be a bit different."

"We've also scored a few driving maul tries and you always try to work towards your strong points. If we get opportunities then we must make them count," Kirsten concluded.