Johan Grobbelaar makes a return to the Bulls pack and will start at hooker for their opening Currie Cup clash against Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 19:00.
BULLS LAST WON THE CURRIE CUP IN 2009
The recently crowned Super Rugby Unlocked champions will now set their sights on the Currie Cup which the Pretoria franchise last won in 2009, and they will be determined to bag a full house of points in what is Newlands’ swansong season.
Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White has tweaked his match day squad with the inclusion of Grobbelaar while Chris Smith retains the No 10 jersey ahead of Morne Steyn after an impressive showing last weekend against the Pumas.
The rest of the starting line-up remains unchanged.
There will be a couple of familiar faces in the Bulls line-up for Western Province fans, including skipper Duane Vermeulen and replacement loose forward Nizaam Carr who both featured in the past for the Cape side.
“We achieved our first goal of the post-pandemic season and now we shift our focus to securing the Currie Cup with a massive target on our backs,” explained White.
“There are a few teams that can travel to Newlands as favourites, which makes our job harder. Couple that with the fact that Western Province are always a difficult team to face, home or away, and fans can expect a true old school North-South Derby,” he added.
TEAMS:
Western Province
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes (from): 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Kwenzo Blose, 19 Neethling Fouche, 20 David Meihuizen, 21 Chris van Zyl, 22 Jaco Coetzee, 23 Marcel Theunissen, 24 Godlen Masimla, 25 Tim Swiel, 26 Ruhan Nel
Bulls
15. David Kriel, 14. Travis Ismaiel, 13. Stedman Gans, 12. Cornal Hendricks, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Chris Smith, 9. Ivan van Zyl, 8. Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7. Arno Botha, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Trevor Nyakane, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 1. Jacques van Rooyen.
Substitutes: 16. Corniel Els, 17. Gerhard Steenekamp, 18. Marcel van der Merwe, 19. Sintu Manjezi, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Clinton Swart, 23. Marco Jansen van Vuren
