Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Bulls with all to do against Ospreys
IT IS a markedly different Bulls line-up that has been entrusted with getting their United Rugby Championship campaign back on track against the Ospreys at Loftus Versfeld this afternoon.
Coach Jake White has made eight changes to the team that lost to Munster at the same venue last week, with Elrigh Louw captaining the side and moving to flank from No 8 to accommodate the returning Cameron Hanekom.
Chris Smith starts at flyhalf for the suspended Johan Goosen and links up with the in-form Embrose Papier. Smith will be covered off the bench by Jaco van der Walt, and Zak Burger backs up Papier.
Loftus fans will be pleased to see old boy Jannes Kirsten making a longawaited return after moving back to Pretoria from England’s Exeter Chiefs. He has been back in town for almost a year, but has been injured.
Canan Moodie shifts from outside centre to right wing, with Sebastian de Klerk dropping out of the squad. David Kriel and Harold Vorster will form a new midfield pairing.
Nizaam Carr is at No 6 to complete a powerful lose trio with Louw and Hanekom
In the tight five, Ruan Vermaak and Reinhardt Ludwig form the second row, with an unchanged front row in Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw.
The Ospreys are six points behind their hosts and a win on the Highveld would be their second on tour and a major boost to their play-off ambitions.
For the South Africans, a victory would help them control their fate in the competition and White says their focus is on exactly that.
“We still have our destiny in our own hands. We still have three games at home until the end of this campaign. Every game has to be like a final because there are many teams still fighting for a place in the play-offs.
“There are so many permutations that can happen, but we can control winning at Loftus over the next three weeks and then take form to our last game (against the Sharks in Durban).”
On Jannes Kirsten making his longawaited debut, White remarked: “He is one of those guys who has won the European Cup and the English Premiership and there aren’t many guys who have done that. So, at the back end of a competition where it is now like knock-out rugby, he adds an incredible amount of knowledge, understanding, and calmness.
“He is another guy who might not be captain but has some leadership qualities to help the youngsters on the field. He is a very detailed guy and incredibly bright. I can only think for the youngsters that if he can instil what he knows, then he will have made a major impact.
Bulls starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12
Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw (c), 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Devon Williams.