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Pretoria - Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named
two strong teams to take on the Golden Lions' Vodacom Cup side and the Stormers
at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
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The coach included recent recruits - Piet van Zyl (Cheetahs) and Jacques-Louis Potgieter (France) - in the team that will face the Lions in the early match of the day, but made it clear that not much must be read into his selections for these two warm-up matches.
Former Springbok lock Victor Matfield, who was due to make his return on Saturday, was not included in either of the two squads named.
No mention was made as to why he was omitted.
"To have almost everyone fit and able ahead of our first match is great and we need to thank our medical staff for that. It does give the coaching staff the luxury of trying different combinations and that is exactly what we will be looking for in Polokwane," Ludeke said.
“I would like to see both teams playing to our patterns, as this will make it easier to decide which players will suit our style best ahead of the season opener next month. To be successful in Super Rugby, you need a squad though, so I will be looking at both matches with equal interest," the coach said.
“The players understand the squad principle and all is keen to contribute towards achieving our goal of winning the 2014 tournament.”
Coach Frans Ludeke, who grew up in Polokwane, had a luxury of a fit squad and bar prop Morné Mellett, could name particular combinations for the matches against the Stormers and the Golden Lions Vodacom Cup teams.
He is also pleased to be back in his old stomping ground.
"We appreciate the effort of everyone involved in bringing the game to Polokwane, as we try to bring the team to our fans where possible. One can expect early season jitters, but hopefully we can give the spectators good value for their money.”
The match will not be shown on TV.
The Bulls team to play the Golden Lions at 15:00:
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Ulrich Beyers, 11 Jesse Kriel, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Marcel vd Merwe
Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Wiaan Liebenberg, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Waylon Murray, 24 Ryan Nell, 25 Jacques-Louis Potgieter
The Bulls team to play the Stormers at 17:00:
15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip vd Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Marcel vd Merwe, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Handré Pollard, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Travis Ismaiel
