Hanekom to beef up Bulls against Munster after being cleared

IN a massive boost to their chances of beating Munster tomorrow, the Bulls will have robust No 8 Cameron Hanekom available for tomorrow’s United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld (5.05pm).

He had to attend a disciplinary hearing this week following a dangerous tackle on Northampton centre Fraser Dingwall in last weekend’s 59-22 Champions Cup quarter-final defeat at Franklin’s Gardens.

“An independent disciplinary committee studied video imagery of the incident and heard evidence and submissions from Hanekom, from the player’s legal representative, Attie Heyns, and from the EPCR disciplinary officer, Liam McTiernan,” the governing body said in a statement.

“The committee determined that Hanekom had committed an act of foul play by tackling Dingwall in a dangerous manner.

“However, the player’s actions did not warrant a red card, and the complaint was therefore dismissed.”

Hanekom, 21, was one of the few Bulls to enhance his reputation against Northampton

Hanekom’s availability is crucial as the Bulls are without injured Springboks Marco van Staden and Marcell Coetzeer.

Meanwhile, in-form prop Wilco Louw said this week that he expected a real challenge from Munster in the scrums.

“They have a really good scrum and put Northampton under really big pressure in some scrums,” Bok tighthead Louw said.

“They are a really good mauling side and are really physical – they target your breakdowns and try to mess it up as much as they can.

“It will be good for us to keep the ball and keep the momentum on our side. When I was at Harlequins, we played them and it’s a tough team to play.

“If you look at how much reward the Springboks get from a dominant scrum, I think everyone in the world wants to scrum like them,” Louw said.