Bulls get Bok boost for crucial clash with Cardiff

The Vodacom Bulls have been given a timely boost with the return to the starting XV of Springboks Cameron Hanekom, Marcell Coetzee and Willie le Roux. Hanekom missed out on the Round 16 match in Scotland, whilst Coetzee and le Roux came off the bench.

Zak Burger and Alulutho Tshakweni are the only other players who did not feature in the previous round of the league who are in the starting and impact squad respectively as the herd welcomes Welsh outfit Cardiff Rugby in Round 17 of the 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship. The two sides meet at 4pm at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, with tickets available for as little as R 50.00c from TicketPro

Ruan Nortje and his troops have dedicated the match to all moms, giving the special women in their lives and community free entry to the game. Moms are encouraged to collect their free tickets from the stadium ticket office until Friday COB and from the stadium entry points on matchday.

On the field, Coetzee and Hanekom are the only changes made by director of rugby, Jake White, to the forward pack that did duty against Glasgow a fortnight ago. At the back, Burger and El Maetsro are the only other two changes to the starting XV, slotting in at scrumhalf and full back, respectively.

Jannes Kirsten, Marco van Staden and Devon Williams move from the starting lineup to the standby ensemble that also features Akker van der Merwe, Mornay Smith, Keagan Johannes and Stedman Gans. The only new face on the duty list on the bench is Tshakweni.

Vodacom Bulls starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk; 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Zak Burger; 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Ruan Nortje (capt), 6 Marcell Coetzee; 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese; 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-hendrik Wessels. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Devon Williams, 23 Stedman Gans.

SATURDAY

Vodacom Bulls v Cardiff Rugby

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria – KO 3pm IRE & UK/4pm ITA & SA

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU, 28th league game)

AR 1: Griffin Colby (SARU) AR 2: Dylen November (SARU)

TMO: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

Live on: SuperSport, S4C, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv