After a high-octane North-South clash between the Stormers and Bulls, the next couple of local derbies will hopefully follow in the footsteps of the first one of the year.

It was a titanic struggle that saw the Pretoria side break their United Rugby Championship (URC) duck in Cape Town, bagging a first win in the 33-32 nail-biter.

Their powerful scrum laid the platform for the victory, and to be honest, they should've buried the Stormers way earlier in the duel and not let it go to the very last second.

But that is the nature of the Cape side at the DHL Stadium.

They will fight until the final whistle to bring joy to their fans and they did. Had it not been for that missed conversion by Clayton Blommetjies, things would've looked different on the scoreboard and the Bulls would've left with another loss in the Mother City.

They grabbed their chances, though, and you don't see them falling short against any South African side in the URC again. When they take on the Sharks tomorrow afternoon in Pretoria (5pm kick-off), the expectancy is a Bulls win at Loftus Versfeld.

The Durbanites are resting some key players, so they won't be at full strength like the Stormers. Another struggle and, suddenly, the Bulls will start questioning themselves.

Earlier tomorrow, the Lions and visiting Capetonians will kick off the local derbies at Ellis Park (2.30pm kick-off).

It's been back-to-back losses for the Stormers, so they need to keep their unbeaten run at Ellis Park going if they want to gain back any momentum in the tournament.

Fresh from an extended rest period, the Lions will be rejuvenated and ready to inflict more pain on the Cape side. They've re-signed a bunch of their star players which should boost their chances of bagging a first win over the visitors tomorrow.

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