The Melbourne Rebels and the Bulls have only played each other once in Super Rugby and that match was won by the Bulls 47-10.
The match happened last year in May and the Rebels were outscored by seven tries to one which means that the Rebels have a 100% losing record against the former champions.
Bulls critics have noted that they have had some controversial refereeing decisions go their way in recent weeks as they have been run close by the Brumbies and the Crusaders.
Both teams had a bye last week so they can both be expected to start slowly. The Rebels have had some controversy though as they released Danny Cipriani just days after Wallaby star James O'Connor was ruled out due to injury.
Kurtley Beale has taken over at 10 after he impressed there in his last outing and the backs have been boosted by the return of Stirling Mortlock on the bench.
The Bulls only left for Australia on Monday afternoon so they will still be acclimatizing to the new time zones and recovering from the travel. Even though the Bulls will have the travel factor a loss this week would be a major upset.
The Bookies have given thethe Rebels a 12 point start for this match - with an offer of Bet 5 and Get 50 in Bets. It's hard to see the Rebels toppling the Bulls this week. The Bulls should win by 14 or more.
This match will be shown on TV in NZ, Aus, SA and in the UK on the Sky Sports website.
Average score:Rebels 10 Bulls 47
Last result
Sat, 14 May 2011 Rebels v Bulls 10-47 Pretoria
Rebels overall record against the Bulls
Played 1 , Wins 0, Losses 1 , Draws 0
Match No 68: Rebels v Bulls
Date Friday 4 May
Venue : Melbourne
Kick Off : 19:40 AEST, 21:40 NZT, 11:40 SAST
Referee: Andrew Lees
Assistant Ref 1:Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2: Julian Pritchard
TMO:George Ayoub
Teams
Rebels
1. Nic Henderson, 2. Ged Robinson, 3. Rodney Blake, 4. Cadeyrn Neville, 5. Hugh Pyle, 6. Luke Jones, 7. Tim Davidson, 8. Gareth Delve, 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Kurtley Beale, 11. Cooper Vuna, 12. Lachlan Mitchell, 13. Mitch Inman, 14. Mark Gerrard, 15. Julian Huxley.
Replacements: 16. Adam Freier, 17. Jono Owen, 18. Al Campbell, 19. Ryan Hodson, 20. Richard Kingi, 21. James Hilgendorf, 22. Stirling Mortlock.
Bulls
Zane Kirchner Akona Ndungane, JJ Engelbrecht, Wynand Olivier, Bjorn Basson , Morne Steyn, Francois Hougaard , Pierre Spies,Jacques Potgieter, CJ Stander, Juandre Kruger, Flip van der Merwe , Werner Kruger, Chiliboy Ralepelle , Dean Greyling .
Replacements: Willie Wepener , Frik Kirsten , Wilhelm Steenkamp , Arno Botha , Jano Vermaak, Louis Fouche, Johann Sadie.
