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Bulls coach warns against complacency on defence

Cape Town - Bulls coach Pote Human has warned his charges not to let their standards drop on defence when they host the Blues in Pretoria on Saturday.

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The Bulls' try-scoring drought has been a big talking point in the build-up to this weekend’s game, but Human reminded his players not to forget their responsibilities on defence against an attacking minded team like the Blues.

"We've worked hard on our attacking play the last two weeks. We simply must use our chances. It bothers everyone and I hope it shows Saturday. However, we'll also have to defend really well and we need to excel in both departments," Human said on Thursday, as quoted by Netwerk24.

The Bulls had a bye last weekend but failed to register a single try in their opening two games - a 23-15 defeat to the Sharks in Durban and a 13-0 whitewash against the Stormers in Cape Town.

READ | Bulls attack guru confident tries will come

Human named a largely unchanged team with Wian Vosloo the only new face in the starting line-up. He takes over the No 7 jumper from Abongile Nonkontwana.

The bench sees two changes with Corniel Els and Ruan Steenkamp making their first appearances this season. Els replaces the injured Johan Grobbelaar while Steenkamp takes Vosloo's place on the bench.

Human added that they were feeling the heat after two defeats, but stressed there were no need for panic.

"The competition is definitely not a sprint and if we can win the next three games at Loftus (Blues, Jaguares and Highlanders), then we'll go on tour with good momentum," the coach added.

Saturday's clash at Loftus Versfeld kicks off at 17:15.

Teams:

Bulls

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Wian Vosloo, 6.Jeandre Rudolph, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka

Substitutes: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Ruan Steenkamp, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Divan Rossouw

Blues

TBA

- Compiled by Herman Mostert



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