The Blue Bulls may have been installed as outright favourites by the bookmakers, most of whom are giving the Free State Cheetahs a 10-point handicap start, but Bulls coach Frans Ludeke is not buying into the favouritism tag attached to his team fore the Currie Cup Final in Pretoria on Saturday.

Ludeke, who is also quick to dismiss the team's Super 14 triumph as a "closed chapter", said it is certainly a "50-50 game".

He feels that while previous encounters between the two teams - the Cheetahs won 24-15 in Bloemfontein and the Bulls triumphed 30-27 in Pretoria - do have a story to tell, those tales will have no bearing on Saturday.

"This is a new game," Ludeke told iafrica.com as his team stepped up preparations for the Loftus Versfeld showdown.

"Both teams know exactly what to expect and this will be finals rugby," he said, adding: "The key will be pressure and how you get out of those situations.

"Both teams will have their opportunities and will at some stage have the initiative in the game and that is when they must be able to maintain level heads to capitalise on it and put points on the board."

A lot has been made of the various head-to-head battles - with the Cheetahs seemingly having a better scrum and the Bulls' line-outs said to be their ace up the sleeve.

It means the 'decider' could be the breakdowns - where Springbok poacher Heinrich Brussow will go head-to-head with former Grey College teammate Deon Stegmann.

"Both teams have very good loose forwards," Ludeke told this website.

"It will be a key battle in the game, but we are confident that our players - with Deon Stegmann at the forefront, along with Dewald Potgieter, Derick Kuun and Wynand [Olivier] - will give us the edge."

Ludeke agrees that the Stegmann versus Brussow battle could be one of the highlights of the game, but he feels the key battles in the Final will not be won by individuals.

"We look at the game in a very different way, we see it as a team effort - with the players mentioned above. It is a team effort at the breakdown, but we know that indirectly Deon Stegmann leads the charge in that aspect [of the game] and we have faith in him.

"He is up against a top player, with Heinrich Brussow having proved his worth throughout the year and he is indeed a quality player.

"It will be an interesting battle at the breakdown."

Ludeke feels that the set pieces will also have a crucial role to play.

"All the set pieces will be key: the scrums, line-outs and restarts - those are the things that will help secure territorial advantage and ensure there is a sound platform from which to attack," Ludeke said.

The other aspect that the bookies feel help make the Bulls favourites are their experience, with a host of Springboks having already won a World Cup, beaten the British and Irish Lions, along with winning the Tri-Nations - not to mention the fact that the entire Bulls team have a victorious Super 14 campaign behind them, where they put 60 points past the Chiefs in the Final.

Ludeke admits that experience do play a key role in the game, although he feels the Currie Cup Final will not be a runaway game.

"The important thing is to get into position by putting the opposition under pressure," Ludeke told this website, adding: "Once you are in the position the experience will shine through, it will allow the players to make the right decisions to ensure at crucial stage you put points on the board.

"Obviously we have players, several, who have been in those situations often enough.

"We have confidence that players like Victor [Matfield], Bakkies [Botha], Fourie [du Preez], Wynand [Olivier], Bryan [Habana] and Morne [Steyn], the guys who have been there before, will impose themselves on the game and that we are able to benefit from that."

But he feels what they achieved in the past, like winning the Super 14, will not come into play - it is about performing on the day.

"This is a new game, we closed that [Super 14] door behind us. It was an incredible competition, but this is a new phase for this team.

"The opposition is different and if you look at the Currie Cup, throughout the season it was very close.

"What makes this different is that the players know each other so well and there won't be too many surprises - we all know what to expect.

"It is about those 80 minutes and which team will use their chances best."