Pretoria - Bulls coach John Mitchell says that flyhalf Handre Pollard is looking fit and strong ahead of the Super Rugby season.
The 23-year-old Springbok has had a nightmare run with injuries over the past two seasons, but he is looking to put that behind him as he starts the Super Rugby season in good shape.
Pollard will wear the No 10 jersey at Loftus on Saturday when the Bulls take on the Hurricanes in their season opener, and Mitchell gave some insight into Pollard's current condition.
"He's looking really healthy," the former All Black coach said at his team announcement on Thursday.
"He's done something about how he fuels his body. He is lean.
"He's on the pitch every day working on his game so that gives you a good example that he is potentially becoming resilient as well."
Pollard, Mitchell added, would have to be used carefully.
"We're not going to get 18 games out of the guy because we're going to have to manage him well, but if we've got him for the majority if the games then that augurs well," he said.
"This whole competition is about having continuity as much as you can in your 23 because that does build team cohesion and confidence."
Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:15.
Teams:
Bulls
15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre SchoemanSubstitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Nic de Jager, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Duncan Matthews
Hurricanes
15 Matt Proctor, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ihaia West, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields (captain), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Ben May, 2 Ricky Ricctelli, 1 Toby Smith
Substitutes: 16 James O'Reilly, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Murray Douglas, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Jamie Booth, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ben Lam