Before the main event of the annual festival of San Fermin in Spain, locals offer several sound pieces of advice.

If you can't outrun the bulls charging through the streets of Pamplona, either get out of their way by escaping through small gaps in barriers lining the route or, worst case scenario, if they catch up, lie down, cover your head and let them run over you.

They also warn against participating in the run if you're tired or jet-lagged. It's traditional to wear white clothing with a just a splash of red because, after all, you don't want to antagonise the animals.

The good news is there's only six bulls to deal with on the streets of Pamplona. In Brisbane on Saturday night, there will be eight or more of the beasts leading the Suncorp Stampede.

The Bulls, of South Africa, have mauled every opponent in the last few years and the Queensland Reds have been gored more than most, losing five of the last seven against the defending champions including a bloody 92-3 humiliation in 2007.

"This year is different," say long suffering fans, pointing to the Reds' sparkling form in 2010 that has them in playoff contention. The often maligned Queenslanders have added discipline and steel to their performances, particularly in the forwards to complement their fleet-footed and inventive backs.

But don't be fooled, the odds the Reds can beat the Bulls with a purely confrontational approach up front are about as long as a gammy-legged drunken tourist making it all the way from Santa Domingo street to the bull-ring in Pamplona.

Because if ever there was a game where the Bulls would fancy using their preferred weapon of mass destruction - the rolling maul - it's this one.

The Sharks provided the blueprint (as if the Bulls needed confirmation) when they turned a 21-9 deficit around in Round 8 to defeat the Reds 30-28. The South Africans had looked like fish out of water as the Queenslanders ran rings around them in the first half of the game in Durban.

But the penny dropped when the Sharks stopped trying to emulate the Reds running game and got down to the ugly but effective practice of attacking through forward bulk, sending their pack trundling over the Reds' eight at maul time and bashing them off the pill at the breakdown.

"We just need to match them up-front, which we didn't do against the Sharks," says in-form Queensland flanker Scott Higginbotham. "They (Bulls) have a giant pack: scrums, lineouts and rucks are going to be tough. They are a lot more gelled than the Lions or Cheetahs."

Keeping the ball out of the hands of the Bulls is key and that not only means winning a fair share of possession in set pieces, but counterattacking from deep, avoiding kicking and generally attempting to run the visitors off their enormous hooves.

However, knowing what to do and executing it for 80 minutes are two different things as both the Waratahs and the Force found when they played breathless rugby against the Bulls for two-thirds of their respective games before the South Africans commandeered the contests, asserting their set piece dominance and giving their masterly five eighth Morne Steyn permission to unleash his bulky and occasionally brilliant backline.

The Reds know the challenge at lineout time, in particular, will be enormous, with the boss of that aspect of play and the best rolling maul set up guy in the business, Victor Matfield ready to put on a show for the Bulls' last game of a successful three week Australasian tour

"He has been (the best lock) going round for some time. He has seen pretty much everything there's to see," veteran Reds lock Van Humphries says of 92-test veteran Matfield.

"From what I gather he is very analytical.  He studies the opposition lineout and looks for keys. That's something we are going to try to turn around on him this weekend.

"But we've been running pretty well in regard to lineouts so far and we won't be looking to change too much. We will just concentrate on our own game and try to throw a few things at him he hasn't seen."

Unfortunately, the young Reds only returned from their three match jaunt to South Africa on Monday, so the tired legs at crucial stages of the game may belong to the home team.

Queensland captain Will Genia knows getting the upper hand early will be a key, particularly with Suncorp likely to be packed for the first time in years.

"It will be a massive test for us, but it's a challenge we are looking forward to," he says.  "We're just going to try to impose our game on them early and do it effectively.  Hopefully that will give us the best possible chance of winning."

The Reds and the Brumbies are two teams who can potentially leapfrog the third placed Waratahs this weekend during Round 10 clashes.

The ‘Tahs will be anxiously watching results as they take stock of their growing injury toll during this bye week.

The Brumbies have injury concerns of their own going into their crucial home game against the Hurricanes, with playmaker Matt Toomua out for three to four weeks with ligament damage, Mitchell Chapman (hip) sidelined and Wallaby stalwart Stirling Mortlock still a spectator with a back injury. There's also some doubt about half Josh Valentine's fitness.

"It's not the ideal lead-up to a match but it's a reality of professional rugby," says coach Andy Friend. "As we get towards the end of what is a very demanding and physical season, injuries are unfortunately part and parcel of the game."

The Brumbies will be looking to build on their 61-15 demolition of the Cheetahs last week but will find the underperforming, though talented Hurricanes a vastly different proposition.

Matt Giteau's ability to take control of the game from fly half and exert his own attacking brilliance will be crucial to the Canberra team's chances.

The Western Force's season probably started about eight weeks too soon, but with key personnel finally returning from injury, they are looking to finish with a flourish. They can do the front running teams a favour by knocking off the Blues in Auckland on Saturday.