Serfontein likely to miss derby

PRETORIA: The Bulls will likely face the Stormers in their Super Rugby opener on Saturday without the experience of Springbok centre Jan Serfontein.

Serfontein has been struggling with a back injury and didn’t feature in the Bulls preseason friendlies against the Lions and Chiefs.

Serfontein’s injury woes in the past three seasons have seen him have limited game time for his franchise, which in turn has had an adverse impact on him being able to cement a place in the national team.

Saturday’s derby at Newlands would have been the perfect platform for Serfontein to relaunch himself as the number one contender for the Springbok number 12 jersey.His absence will deprive the Bulls of the critical experience they would have enjoyed in the halfback and inside centre axis with Springboks Rudy Paige and flyhalf Handre Pollard.

As depleted as the Bulls might find themselves in terms of experience with regular captain and former Springbok hooker Adriaan Strauss also unavailable as he recovers from a back operation, the door is wide open for exciting centre Burger Odendaal to continue his partnership with Dries Swanepoel.

Odendaal has already shown glimpses of good form, especially in the game against the Chiefs in Brisbane a fortnight ago, and he will look to exploit the Stormers defence who are without Springbok centre Juan de Jongh.

However, Bulls mentor Nollis Marais will be more concerned about the configuration of his loose forwards with former Springbok and Waratahs flank Jacques Potgieter a strong contender to start in the number seven jersey even though Jannes Kirsten had worn the jersey with aplomb last year.

Potgieter’s versatility in being able to play lock could hand Marais some freedom in selecting his bench.

Marais will also have to apply his mind on who will be his starting number eight, with Hanro Liebenberg seemingly ahead of Namibian international Renaldo Bothma, with Nic de Jager and Shaun Addendorf left to fight it out for the number six jersey.