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Pretoria - The Blue Bulls suffered another injury setback on Thursday when it was announced that eighth man Gerrit-Jan Van Velze had fractured his thumb in training.
Van Velze would be replaced by CJ Stander in the Blue Bulls squad which will take on arch-rivals Western Province in a decisive north v south derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Stander was to have played for the Bulls' under-21 squad.
The Bulls announced on Monday that Juandre Kruger would also definitely miss the match after breaking his wrist in the opening minutes of his side's 39-26 victory over the Leopards in Potchefstroom.
However, team doctor Org Strauss dismissed fears that the Bulls could be without at least five of their star performers.
He said injuries sustained by lock Fudge Mabeta (neck), wing Jaco van der Westhuyzen (knee) and prop Werner Kruger (ankle) were not as serious as initially thought and that they should all be fit on the day.
A final call had yet to be made on the fitness of skipper Gary Botha, who left the field with an ankle injury. He was responding well to treatment.
Teams:
Blue Bulls:
15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Jaco Pretorius, 12. Stefan Watermeyer, 11. Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 10. Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9. Francois Hougaard, 8. CJ Stander, 7. Okkie Kruger, 6. Derick Kuün (captain), 5. Fudge Mabeta, 4. Flip van der Merwe, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Gurthrö Steenkamp
Replacements: 16. Gary Botha, 17. Rossouw de Klerk, 18. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19. Dewald Potgieter, 20. Ruan Snyman, 21. Francois Brummer, 22. Stephan Dippenaar
Western Province:
15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. JJ Engelbrecht, 13. Juan De Jongh, 12. Jean De Villiers, 11. Gio Aplon, 10. Willem de Waal, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Pieter Louw, 5. Anton van Zyl (captain), 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. JD Moller
Replacements: 16. Hanyani Shimange, 17. JC Kritzinger, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Nick Koster, 20. Conrad Hoffmann, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. Paul Bosch
