Share

Bulls welcome back big names

Cape Town - Bulls coach Nollis Marais made three changes to his backline to play the Reds in a Vodacom Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. 

Bjorn Basson replaces Jamba Ulengo on the wing, Francois Brummer swops jerseys with Tian Schoeman at flyhalf, with the latter moving to the bench and Rudy Paige returns from injury. He replaces Piet van Zyl, who moves to the bench, with Ivan van Zyl dropping out from the team that won against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth last weekend. 

The pack remains unchanged, but Marais tweaked his bench. Lizo Gqoboka replaces Pierre Schoeman as back-up loosehead, Jaco Visagie comes in for Bandise Maku at hooker and Deon Stegmann takes over from Roelof Smit as the openside flanker. It will be Stegmann’s first appearance in the competition after he recovered from injury. 

The coach is happy to welcome back the likes for Springboks Basson and Paige and feels that this is the best team to face the Australians.

Marais feels that the Reds will pose a different threat to what the team were exposed to in their last two matches. 

"Local derbies are just different. It is a more physical match-up with lots of collisions," said Marais.

"It is no co-incidence that people talk about a typical derby match. Playing a team from Australia will present challenges elsewhere to what we were used to and we need to be ready to embrace them.

"The Reds play with good width and have great players in crucial positions. They knocked over the defending champions last week, so will have faith in their game plan and structures. We need to be ready." 

Bulls captain, Adriaan Strauss, believes that last weekend’s win over the Kings showed the way.

"We had to overcome a number of challenges, like playing with 13 men," said Strauss.

"We made two or three try-saving tackles and most pleasing, scored a couple of crackers ourselves.

"Those things do wonders for the confidence and belief and we are ready to give it another go. The Reds are former champions and is a team that has lots of variety and options. So we need to defend with great pride against them if we want to dominate."

Teams:

Bulls

15 SP Marais, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor Nyakane 

Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboko, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Deon Stegmann, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Dan Kriel

Reds

TBA

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE