Bulls leave nothing to chance against Dragons

The Vodacom Bulls are leaving nothing to chance as they welcome Dragons RFC to Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday at 3pm in Round 18 of the 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship. Tickets to the encounter are available for as little as R50 from TicketPro

“Tomorrow will be an emotional encounter for sure because many of our players knew Cornal (Hendricks) and others, like Willie (le Roux), were with him from the start of their careers to their international days. Whether we talk about it or try not, I am confident that the emotions will be high tomorrow because he was a player that was well-liked,” reflected director of rugby, Jake White.

“This is a game where we want to do well. It would be naïve of us to think it will be an easy game and we must make sure we play as well as we can, looking at the coming weeks. These types of opponents, sometimes, are the most dangerous because they play knowing they do not need to leave anything in the tank.

“This is one of those games that if you arrive thinking you are going to win, that mindset can come back to bite you.”

White has made a few changes to his side, beginning with the front row where Jan-hendrik Wessels is given new partners in Akker van der Merwe and Mornay Smith. Behind them, the lock pairing of Cobus Wiese and JF van Heerden is retained, whilst Kuyenzeka Nama Xaba is brought into the loose-forward role to partner up with his skipper, Ruan Nortje. Mr Consistency, Cameron Hanekom, will run out at eight once more.

Scrumhalf, Zak Burger, has a new halfback partner in Keagan Johannes, who starts at flyhalf, having played 70 minutes in that role last week. Behind them, Canan Moodie shifts to outside centre, which sees David Kriel moving to the inside centre role. That opens up room for Sergeal Petersen at left wing, whilst Round 17 Player of the Match Sebastian de Klerk starts again at right wing. El Maestro, Willie le Roux, will steer the ship at fullback as per tradition.

The more common five-three split impact squad will be deployed this weekend, which offers the side the likes of Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima, Francois Klopper, Jannes Kirsten, Marcell Coetzee, Bernard van der Linde, Stedman Gans and Devon Williams to call upon.

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

SATURDAY

Vodacom Bulls v Dragons RFC

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria – KO 2pm IRE & UK/3pm ITA & SA

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 105th league game)

AR 1: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU) AR 2: AJ Jacobs (SARU)

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

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