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Cape Town - Jacobie Adriaanse will earn a 30th cap, but will start at tighthead prop for the Bulls for the first time on Saturday against the Cheetahs in a crucial Super Rugby clash in Pretoria.
The 32-year-old has come off the bench four times this year for the Pretoria side, but will earn a first start in place of Trevor Nyakane, who is rested, in one of two changes to the Bulls pack.
In the other change, Jason Jenkins will start at lock, swapping places with RG Snyman from last weekend’s starting pack against the Jaguares. Snyman will play off the bench.
Bulls coach Nollis Marais also made an enforced change in his backline.
Jan Serfontein is being rested as per the SA Rugby agreement, resulting in Jesse Kriel moving into the number 13 jersey.
Warrick Gelant slots into the fullback position, with Duncan Naude coming onto the bench in the match day 23.
In a late change, Handre Pollard, who was set to start at flyhalf was forced to withdraw after suffering an ankle injury in training. He will be replaced by Tian Schoeman with Francois Brummer on the bench. Pollard is expected to be out for 8 to 10 weeks.
“It is a very, very important match for us,” said Marais on the Bulls website.
“We need to keep on building from last weekend, not only on improving on the good things we did, but also to make sure that winning feeling becomes an addictive one. We need to prove that the win over the Jaguares was the tipping point for us. We always believed we were a better team than the results showed, but we now have another opportunity to go out and prove it.”
Bulls captain, Adriaan Strauss, is not expecting any favours from the Cheetahs, whom he represented 97 times in this competition.
“This will be a massive game. They have the belief that they can beat us and to be honest, have the players to do that if we don’t pitch. Any South African derby match is huge, and I know how much it means for them to beat the Bulls. We must prepare for a total onslaught and will have to tackle as if our lives depend on it. But saying that, I can’t wait and I know the team feels the same way,” he said.
Strauss will play in his 138th match in Super Rugby, a South African record for a hooker.
Teams:
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Nic de Jager, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Jacques Potgieter, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 Franco Naude
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Nico Lee, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Ox Nche, 18. Tom Botha, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Niell Jordaan, 21 Uzair Cassiem, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Fred Zeilinga
