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After a few weeks of no action with the international break, the URC returns this weekend as Connacht welcome South African side Bulls to Dexcom Stadium.
It's Round 7 of the URC with kick off time on Saturday 5.30pm. Both teams have been in good form with one point seperating each other, Bulls are 3rd on 19 points while Connacht are 5th on 18 points.
Connacht Head Coach Pete Wilkins spoke ahead of Saturday's exciting encounter at Dexcom Stadium.
"They're a quality team and probably the form team from South Africa over these last couple of seasons"
"They have an incredibly powerful pack of forwards with excellent depth in those forwards"
"Then when you look at their back they have so much pace there that can create chaos"
Coming up against any South African side means you need to be at your very best when it comes to the phycial exchanges and Wilkins knows his side will need to be at it from the very start.
"The physical side of the game is non negotiable, you have to at least match them in that department if you want to stand a chance of competing in the game"
"I don't know if they will have some of their Springbok players back or not but no matter what team they put out they have fantastic quality"
Connacht's last game was at home to the Dragons where Wilkins side picked up five points in an impressive win at the end of October and Pete feels this is the perfect game to restart with.
"This is the exact challenge we want to restart the season for us"
"Playing at home you want it to be a big challenge and exciting spectacle for supporters"
Over the last two weekends the Connacht Eagles have been in action which have given Wilkins the chance to see more of certain players and the Connacht academy players.
"It was great to see Oisin Dowling get two games under his belt, Eoin de Buitléar did very well against Leinster but unfortunately got injured in the game against Ulster. It was fantastic to see Oisin McCormack in action, being able to put in those back-to-back games after the injuries he's had over the last few season was really important for him"
"It was great for our academy players to get that experience of playing alongside some of the senior guys"
