Bulls face a crisis at lock as ‘new find’ Eli joins injury list
THE BULLS’ lock crisis deepened this week with Eli Snyman joining the growing injury list among the second-rowers ahead of their crucial match against the Sharks in Pretoria on Saturday.
The news comes two days after it was revealed that lineouts lynchpin and Bulls captain Lood de Jager has been ruled out for four months due to a shoulder injury.
De Jager’s absence meant Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard take over the captain’s armband.
Bulls coach Pote Human was forced to make a few positional changes to the side that demolished the Lions 30-12 over the weekend.
“Eli is unfortunately out, he hurt his shoulder last weekend and we thought he would be ready but he didn’t make the fitness test,” Human said.
“It is probably a bit of a test for the guys are excited, we are back at Loftus and although we’ve had two good wins we know the Sharks have a good pack.
“The Sharks are fresh off a defeat and they have a really good team so it is going to be tough.”
Human moved Hanro Liebenberg from the side of the scrum to the second row where he will partner with Jason Jenkins.
Tim Agaba and Jannes Kirsten will form a new loose trio with Duane Vermeulen after Stoney Steenkamp failed to recover from a concussion.
Plucky scrumhalf Embrose Papier will shift to the bench with Ivan van Zyl earning a start as part of a rotational policy.
Human seemed surprisingly calm about the lock headache which has been looming since the start of the Super Rugby season.
The player migration has compounded problems with Springbok lock RG Snyman returning from Japan with an ankle injury.
Snyman is on the mend but will only make his return for the Bulls after next week’s bye.
Promising young lock Hendre Stassen is still on loan to former Bok coach Heyneke Meyer’s Stade Français and is due to return to Loftus at the end of this month.
But his return is uncertain as Meyer seemed to have found a liking in Stassen with the Bulls working behind the scenes to get the player back.
“Hanru recently played lock at Stade Francais so he is used to that, then Stassen is still there until the end of March and I know they want to keep him there so that is a decision the board must make,” Human said.
“Then, unfortunately, Aston Fortuin injured his toe on Tuesday so he is not available for this weekend.
“Then we have a guy like Ruan Nortje that is also available so there is still some depth left.”
The Bulls will be looking to extend their unbeaten run against the Sharks to eight matches and claim their third South African scalp of the 2019 campaign.“The Sharks have a very good pack and they will come and try and take us on up front,” Human said.
“Then they have Robert du Preez at flyhalf who can dictate the game when they have the front-foot ball.”
BULLS: Warrick Gelant, Cornal Hendricks, Jesse Kriel, Dylan Sage, Rosko Specman, Handré Pollard (c), Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen, Tim Agaba, Jannes Kirsten, Jason Jenkins, Hanro Liebenberg, Trevor Nyakane, Schalk Brits, Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: Corniel Els, Simphiwe Matanzima, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Tembelani Bholi, Paul Schoeman, Embrose Papier, Manie Libbok, Divan Rossouw.