The Bulls aim to repeat the heroics of the Lions' forwards when they take on the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in the Currie Cup on Friday.

"The Lions have a difficult pack (to play against)," said Bulls coach Pine Pienaar.

"The Cheetahs have lost WP (Nel), Coenie (Oosthuizen) and Adriaan Strauss. Trevor (Nyakane), Hercu (Liebenberg) and Marcel (van der Merwe) are still young players. I think a guy like Os (du Randt - their scrum coach) would have addressed it and they will be better," Pienaar said.

The Bulls cleared their potentially tricky first hurdle when they contained the normally abrasive Griquas last week.

"We were fortunate that we had Griquas first up," said Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter.

"They can set the bar quite high with their intensity and they challenged us on the advantage line in the first half. This is the type of challenge that you want early in the competition."

That win would have steeled the Bulls for their upcoming engagement, but Potgieter was quick to remind that victories bring expectations and, as a result, pressure.

"If you win the first game then there is a lot more pressure on you in the second. Besides, given how teams went in the first round, I don't think much separates them."

In the only change to their side, the Bulls have included CJ Stander at the expense of Arno Botha, who has a hamstring injury.