Rugby vs football: Bulls force Sundowns to play on Friday!

Mamelodi Sundowns will return to CAF Champions League action on Friday when they host St Malien at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

Kick-off is at 20:00.

Now, the Brazilians have been complaining about their congested fixture schedule as they will be playing Stade Malien just three days after their match against Orbit College.

Sundowns won their match against Orbit College 2-0 but they had initially requested that the game be rescheduled.

However, that request was not granted, leaving Sundowns with no option but to play while also having one eye on the Stade Malien match.

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RUGBY FIRST THEN FOOTBALL: SUNDOWNS FORCED TO MOVE CAFCL GAME

It has now come to everyone’s attention that the reason Sundowns moved their game to Friday, instead of Saturday or Sunday, is the rugby match at the same venue.

Loftus Versveld Stadium owners, Bulls, have a rugby match against Stormers in the Vodacom URC on Saturday.

This means the venue is unavailable for Sundowns to use either on Saturday or Sunday due to that 72-hour rule in pitch maintenance.

Of course, rugby is more intense than football hence Bulls and Stormers are allowed to play immediately after the Sundowns-Stade Malien match.

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NORTH VS SOUTH DERBY AT LOFTUS

This North-South Derby is dubbed the biggest fixture on the South African rugby calendar.

And while the Bulls appear to be on the rise, history favours Stormers when playing their rivals at Loftus in the URC.

The two giants have met four times in Tshwane since the inception of the URC in the 2021-22 season.

The Stormers have three wins to their name compared to just a single victory by the Bulls in front of their home fans..

That one win for the Bulls came in the 2023-24 season when they hammered the Stormers 40-22.

Also read | Why the Stormers dropped the WP name