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Pretoria - The return of Springbok eighthman Pierre Spies and specialist fetcher Deon Stegmann are the only changes Blue Bulls' coach Frans Ludeke has made to his team ahead of Saturday’s Currie Cup semi-final against the Sharks in Durban.
Blue Bulls captain Victor Matfield said at the team announcement on Wednesday that he was expecting the two loose forwards to make a big impact in the match.
"It is great to see them back and hopefully they’ll come on in the second half and give us extra pace and extra magic that we will probably need in the closing stages of the match.
"Both of them are special players and it is great to see them there on the bench."
The Bulls skipper and his fellow Springbok team-mates returned to the domestic competition only last week when they secured a convincing 48-36 victory over Griquas in Bloemfontein.
In previous years, the Springboks returned to their teams with more time to regain match fitness.
However, in preparation for next year’s World Cup in New Zealand, all contracted Springboks had to complete a conditioning programme and there have been fears that they will not be at their best for the playoffs.
Matfield said that although they would have to adapt faster, they had been part of the team for the past four weeks and would be able to do what was required of them.
"We feel part of the team and we know that there were many players who worked really hard to get us to this point so there is a big responsibility on the players coming back now to go and do the job," he said.
Ludeke admitted that it had taken time for his Springboks to find their feet in last week’s match, but he would not be told that they looked rusty.
"Obviously, it is about playing together in the various combinations and that took us a while," he said.
"The guys are specialists and they know what their roles in the team are.
"They can definitely be better on the weekend, but we felt they had good preparation and we are looking forward to the match."
Ludeke said form running up to the playoffs was not as important as the team’s performance on the day.
"The league phase is over and this is a new competition and hopefully another opportunity. Nothing counts and they (the Sharks) are experienced campaigners and they have international players so you can’t look at what happened last week."
Ludeke said the Bulls would have to show improvement if they were to make it to the final. "Our performance wasn’t where we wanted it."
With the return of Spies and Stegmann, the core of the team that won the Super 14 earlier this year will travel to the coast.
Spies is making his comeback from a calf injury, while Stegmann is returning from an ankle injury which kept him sidelined through most of the competition.
Teams:
Sharks:
TBA
Blue Bulls:
15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Jaco Pretorius, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 10. Morne Steyn, 9. Francois Hougaard, 8. Danie Rossouw, 7. Dewald Potgieter, 6. Derick Kuun, 5. Victor Matfield (captain), 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Dean Greyling
Replacements: 16. Bandise Maku, 17. Rossouw de Klerk, 18. Flip van der Merwe, 19. Pierre Spies, 20. Ruan Snyman, 21. Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22. Deon Stegmann
