Ruan Nortje leads the Vodacom Bulls nonet of returning Springboks who slot into the matchday 23 for the third round of the 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Irish side, Ulster Rugby. The occasion will also mark half-century competition appearances for Johan Grobbelaar and David Kriel.
The two sides will meet on Saturday in the capital at 4pm and tickets are available from Ticketpro for as little as R 50.
Ninth-placed Ulster visits the fortress for the second leg of their South African tour, a point ahead of their host’s but Jake White is careful not to let that inspire complacency from his side ahead of their three-week tour of Europe.
“I am looking forward to seeing how we play because there is everything there, we have good forwards and good backs with good pace, skill and a bit of everything. This will be the strongest team we have fielded in four years from an experience point of view and an achievement point of view; like we have Springboks in key positions and even on the bench.
“We all know that just because you have a strong team does not make anything automatic but it is exciting to see that our four years are coming together now. We have a front row and a backline of Springboks."
White added: “There is still a job to be done, this is a big game against Ulster, who have also managed not to roll over because they are a good team. They may not have got the results but they have toured South Africa very well in the past and I expect it to be a tough game.”
White has assembled a forwards pack comprising Gerhard Steenekamp, Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw at front row. Cobus Wiese will combine with his skipper Ruan Nortje, for the first time at lock. Behind them will be Marco van Staden and Elrigh Louw at flank, with Cameron Hanekom at No 8.
Embrose Papier starts at scrumhalf alongside Boeta Chamberlain at flyhalf. Behind the halfbacks will be Kurt-Lee Arendse at left wing which sees Sebastian de Klerk switching to the right side of the park. The wise Willie le Roux returns to marshal the herd from fullback. Kriel returns to his regular role at centre alongside Canan Moodie, who gets a run at outside centre.
The Tshwane side has assembled a five-three split impact squad which features Akker van der Merwe, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Francois Klopper, Sintu Manjezi, Celimpilo Gumede, Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans and Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Vodacom Bulls starting XV: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse; 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier; 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden; 5 Ruan Nortje (capt), 4 Cobus Wiese; 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Celimpilo Gumede, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi.
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