Bulls looking to make life difficult for the All Blacks at Loftus Versveld

The Pretoria outfit take on the All Blacks in the middle of their pre-season preparations for the 2026-27 United Rugby Championship as a warm-up match for the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour.

Ackermann revealed that his side is still coming up to speed and that, because of the match against New Zealand, they had to shorten the squad's time off and fast-track their strength and conditioning training to be ready.

"We would probably only just have returned from the break. We had to cut the break short. We have to give the guys a five-week break, but we could only give them three weeks," he said.

"Conditioning is one thing, but your body, after three or four weeks, loses its contact ability. So we had to fast-track all of that.

"If this game wasn't there, we would probably have been in a conditioning phase only. So it has put a bit of pressure on us.

"Normally you play a warm-up match or two, you trial stuff, see if it works and see what players are in form.

"Now we're basically picking from the squad we've got left, and then the odd guys who were unlucky not to be selected have been given off training. It's a bit unfair, but that's the hand we've got."

Despite that, Ackermann remains confident the Bulls will not be pushovers.

"We're competitive and we're going to give them a run for their money, hopefully. That's the aim," he said.

"We don't want to make it easy. Even though they're probably, from a rugby point of view, more battle-hardened, we're going to give it a bash. We still believe that if we do the things well, we can upset them and push them all the way.

"It's a great privilege to play against the All Blacks in any format, whether it is for the Barbarians, for South Africa or for the Bulls. This is an occasion that a lot of the players would never have had."

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