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Pretoria - Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has named both his injured Springboks Francois Hougaard and Dewald Potgieter in the team to face the Chiefs, despite the fact that neither has been able to train with the side this week.
While midfielder Jaco Pretorius was ruled out for a second week in a row with a neck strain, and captain Victor Matfield declared fit after his calf injury scare, the young Bok duo have been the main focus points in the injury battle ahead of the Bulls return home from their overseas tour.
Both players will first have to undergo a fitness test at the captain's run on Friday to ensure they are fully fit, but coach Frans Ludeke said he was confident they would take their places in the side.
Hougaard and Potgieter have both been nursing ankle strains, with the flanker on crutches on Monday before discarding them by Tuesday's practice session.
On Tuesday Hougaard was described as "90 percent" fit but still needed to pass fitness tests, which now have been set aside to a day before the game.
If Hougaard cannot make it, then Gerhard van den Heever will move into the starting line-up in his place, with Akona Ndungane on standby for a bench spot. Potgieter has Danie Rossouw waiting as cover, with the Bulls then likely to return to a four-three bench rather than the five-two bench they named Thursday.
In the team, which sports just one change to the team that lost to the Force last week, Gary Botha rotates with Chiliboy Ralepelle to come back into the starting line-up. On the bench Van den Heever takes the place of Jaco van der Westhuyzen.
The Bulls will need the victory this weekend to get their stuttering campaign back on track. A loss would almost certainly leave them floundering and push them further out of contention.
And in a side that boasts 16 Springboks in the match 22, that would spell bad news with the World Cup looming in September.
Teams:
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Francois Brummer, 21 Gerhard van den Heever, 22 Derick Kuun
Chiefs:
TBA
