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Cape Town - The Blue Bulls will take on the EP Kings at Loftus Versfeld on Friday bolstered by the return of RG Snyman at lock.
Snyman, one of the stars for the Bulls in the Super Rugby season, came off the bench last weekend in the defeat to the Free State Cheetahs and showed he recovered fully from the injury sustained while playing for the SA 'A' side against the England Saxons in June.
Snyman comes in for Jason Jenkins, himself now an injury victim. Jenkins suffered a knee injury in Bloemfontein.
Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais also have a fully fit again Lizo Gqoboka to his disposal and the loosehead prop will start in the No 1 jersey in place of Pierre Schoeman, who moves to the bench.
Marais made one change to the backline as well. Duncan Matthews will start at fullback in place of Ulrich Beyers.
On the bench, Jacobie Adriaanse could make a first appearance for the Blue Bulls, whilst Irne Herbst will fill the vacancy left by Snyman's promotion.
"We have a certain way we want to play against the EP Kings and named a team accordingly," Marais said.
"They are unpredictable as a team, so we will have to be sharp and focused. And expect the unexpected. We will, however, make sure we play the way we want to play and execute well, rather than dwell too much on how the opposition will play."
Blue Bulls captain, Arno Botha, said the team is looking for some consistency.
"We certainly had a dip in standards last week. We are playing at home again and that brings an edge to any Blue Bulls player, but we also have to be more consistent than last week. Soft moments certainly cost us in Bloemfontein. It went well in training, so we are keen to get back on the winning horse again."
Teams:
Blue Bulls
15 Duncan Matthews, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Burger Odendaal, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Entienne Swanepoel, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Joshua Stander
EP Kings
TBA
