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London - Scottish flank Kelly Brown will lead a powerful Saracens team against the Bulls in their friendly match at Allianz Park on Saturday.
“We’re expecting a massive challenge from a team including 15 Springboks. But we are fielding our strongest available side and we’ll be ready,” the former Scotland captain told Saracens’ official website.
Jackson Wray, 24, will make his 100th appearance for the club, becoming the fourth member of the golden ‘Class of 2008’ to reach that landmark, combining with Ernst Joubert and Brown in a strong back row.
Neil de Kock, a former Springbok himself, will partner Charlie Hodgson at halfback, as Saracens seek to follow recent wins over the Sharks and Western Province and to complete a notable treble over the three strongest provincial teams in South Africa.
Maintaining the club policy of giving opportunities to talented players from the Saracens global network, Valentin Poparlan, of Timisoara Saracens and Romania, is included.
The match will be broadcast live in the UK and in South Africa, with an estimated television audience of 450 000.
Kick-off is scheduled for 17:15 (SA time).
Teams:
Saracens:
15 Ben Ransom, 14 Jack Wilson, 13 Tim Streather, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Kelly Brown (captain), 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Valetin Poparlan, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Richard Barrington.
Substitutes: TBA
Bulls:
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Deon Stegmann (captain), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Trevor Nyakane
Substitutes (from): Jesse Kriel, William Small-Smith, Handre Pollard, Piet van Zyl, Pierre Spies, Roelof Smit, RG Snyman, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Morne Mellet, Marcel van der Merwe, Jaco Visagie, Duncan Matthews
