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Pretoria - Springbok midfielder Jesse Kriel will play his 50th Super Rugby match and Springbok Sevens forward Tim Agaba his first when the Bulls take on the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.
Kick-off is at 08:35 SA time.
Kriel debuted for the Bulls in 2014 against the Melbourne Rebels and has been a regular on the teamsheet ever since.
Agaba, who won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016 and gold in the World Rugby Sevens Series with the Springbok Sevens team, will start at No 8 in one of three changes to the starting team that were beaten by the Chiefs in Hamilton last weekend.
In the other changes, Embrose Papier is in the starting line-up for the first time, replacing the injured Andre Warner and Jason Jenkins comes in for RG Snyman at lock.
On the bench, Bulls coach John Mitchell has included two new faces in Ivan van Zyl and Hendre Stassen, and recalled Frans van Wyk as the replacement tighthead.
Van Zyl moved into the spot vacated by Papier, and Stassen, who is also on debut, will take over from Jenkins as back-up lock.
Van Wyk replaces the suspended Conraad van Vuuren.
Mitchell had a strong message for the team if they want to return victorious from Christchurch.
“To beat the Crusaders, you need to outwork them. That will not be easy, as they have a tremendous work ethic as a team. We are not on this journey to become a better team because it is easy, so we must be prepared to play for all 80 minutes and play every big moment to the best of our ability.”
Bulls captain Burger Odendaal pointed to his team’s desire to win and their attitude as guidelines to success in Christchurch, a venue the Bulls have not enjoyed much success at in the past.
“We need the right attitude as that will drive our efforts. We have a saying that winning together is better than winning alone. This will require a massive team effort, but we can do it,” Odendaal said.
Teams:
Crusaders
15 David Havili, 14 Manasa Mataele, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Mitchell Hunt, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Billy Harmon, 6 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 5 Sam Whitelock (captain), 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Codie Taylor 1 Tim Perry
Substitutes: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Quinten Strange, 20 Tom Sanders, 21 Bryn Hall, 22 Brett Cameron, 23 Braydon Ennor
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Frans van Wyk, 19 Hendre Stassen, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Johnny Kotze
