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Rossouw rewarded with start

Pretoria - The Bulls have rewarded utility forward Danie Rossouw for his outstanding contributions to the team recently by including him in the starting line-up for Friday’s must-win Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Waratahs in Pretoria.

Rossouw’s inclusion is one of two changes made to the team this week by the defending champions.

The big forward will be wearing the number seven jersey in place of Dewald Potgieter while, in the only other change, Gary Botha takes over from Chiliboy Ralepelle as part of the team’s rotation policy.

"Danie has done the job for us as an impact player and ball carrier and we believe he will again make an important contribution when he comes out to start," Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said on Tuesday.

The Bulls have also decided to give wing Akona Ndungane sufficient time to recover from a shoulder injury he picked up in last week’s 32-21 victory over the Cheetahs.

Should the flyer fail his fitness test later this week, Gerhard van den Heever will take his place with Stephan Dippenaar coming in on the bench.

Rossouw and Bulls captain Victor Matfield will become the most capped players in the union’s history when they take the field on Friday.

They have, to date, donned 113 Super Rugby caps, along with Pedrie Wannenburg who plies his trade at Irish club Ulster.

Teams

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane/Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretoruis, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 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 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Gerhard van den Heever/Stephan Dippenaar.

Waratahs:

TBA

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