Junior Springbok JF van Heerden headlines six changes made by head coach Phiwe Nomlomo to his Vodacom Bulls side that hosts the DHL Western Province in Round 4 of the 2024 Carling Currie Cup at Loftus Versfeld.
Tickets for the North-South derby - which kicks off at 5.15pm - start from R 50 and are available only from Ticketpro.
Van Heerden returns from national duty at the recently concluded Under-20 Championships and starts at lock alongside Cobus Wiese. Skipper, Nizaam Carr pairs up with Merwe Olivier for a second consecutive game with Celimpilo Gumede reinforcing matters at No 8. Dylan Smith, Joe van Zyl and Khuthazani Mchunu will lead the quintet from the front row.
Zak Burger slots into scrumhalf with Jaco van der Walt marshalling the troops at flyhalf.
Behind the halfback duo will be Stravino Jacobs at left-wing alongside Sergeal Petersen on the right-hand side of the park and Boeta Chamberlain returning to the matchday 23 at fullback. Chris Barend Smit and Aphiwe Dyantyi are between the back three at centre.
Head coach, Phiwe Nomlomo has opted for a six-two split impact squad which sees Juann Else, Jacques van Rooyen, Francois Klopper, Jannes Kirsten, Sintu Manjezi, Nama Xaba, Keagan Johannes and Lionel Mapoe all on standby to offer fresh legs as and when needed.
Nomlomo says he expects another ‘proper derby’ despite changes made to his side and looks forward to seeing some of the rotated players run out.
“We have decided to stick with the six-two split because there is a couple of things we have seen that we want to work on and maybe a point of entry for us. We have asked our forwards to go deep for us tomorrow. We have a really good scrum at the moment and equally, our maul has been unbelievable so that is what we want to carry on and stamp our mark in the game.”
Speaking about the opposition, Nomlomo added: “They know what we have and maybe they would be surprised by the changes we have made but nothing more than that, so I expect a proper derby, we all know how it has been in the past and I do not expect anything different this time around.
“Some of our changes are injury-enforced and others are rotational, this is where we find ourselves; where some guys are starting to pick up niggles and some picking up serious injuries along the way as well, which is not ideal.
“Equally, we are happy to give guys opportunities. JF returns from the SA U20s so we are looking forward to seeing him on the park,” he concluded.
Vodacom Bulls starting XV: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Stravino Jacobs; 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Zak Burger; 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Merwe Olivier, 6 Nizaam Carr (capt); 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese; 3 Khuthazani ‘Khutha’ Mchunu, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Dylan Smith. Replacements: 16 Juann Else, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Sintu Manjezi, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Nama Xaba.
DHL Western Province starting XV: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Angelo Davids; 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Imad Khan; 8 Willie Engelbrecht (capt), 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Paul de Villiers; 5 Gary Porter, 4 Hendre Stassen; 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Damian Markus, 23 Luke Burger.
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