Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White has rotated his side ahead of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship fifth-round matchup with Welsh outfit, the Scarlets at the Parc y Scarlets Stadium on Friday evening (8.35pm SAST).
Jan-Hendrik Wessels will start at prop alongside skipper, Akker van der Merwe who will be at hooker with Wilco Louw completing the front row at No 3. Ruan Vermaak has a new partner at lock in Cobus Wiese whilst Kuyenzeka Xaba comes in to pair up with Reinhardt Ludwig at flank. Cameron Hanekom slots in at No 8.
Zak Burger gets a start at scrumhalf with Boeta Chamberlain continuing to serve the Tshwane outfit at flyhalf. Behind the halfbacks Kurt-Lee Arendse and Sebastian de Klerk are retained at left and right wing respectively, with Harold Vorster returning to the matchday fold at inside centre. Vorster, who was sidelined by a broken nose has recovered from his nasal repair and will pair up with Canan Moodie who will line up at outside centre. Henry Immelman will marshal the troops from fullback.
White has gone with a five-three split impact squad that will see Johan Grobbelaar, Dylan Smith, Francois Klopper, JF van Heerden, Celimpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier, Chris Barend Smit and Stedman Gans all on notice to support the charge for the win in the North West of Swansea.
White said about the fixture: “They (Scarlets) are the one Welsh team that has beaten us. They did not only beat Cardiff last week but drew with Benetton also, so they are a difficult team that we take seriously,”
“Every game we play as a franchise is important. It doesn’t matter whether we are playing at home or away. Whenever we wear our club jersey, there is an expectation to win. That doesn’t change whether it’s the second game on tour, we just got to make sure we play as much as we can when we run out onto the field.”
Scarlets forwards coach Albert van den Berg said: “The Bulls have got a great team, a lot of Springboks. They are physical, have a good scrum, good maul, their counter attack is also really good. I know Jake (White) well, having played under him. He will get them fired up, he has said in the media that this is their year to perform, they will have the right mindset. But we will be ready for them, we like to take on the big teams and the big players, all the guys will be fired up for this one.”
Scarlets starting XV: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Eddie James, 11 Blair Murray; 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies; 8 Taine Plumtree, 7Josh Macleod (capt), 6 Max Douglas; 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig; 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias. Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Jac Price, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Efan Jones, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Macs Page.
Vodacom Bulls starting XV: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse; 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger; 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Kuyenzeka Xaba; 5 Cobus Wiese, 4 Ruan Vermaak; 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe (capt), 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Celimpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Barend Smit, 23 Stedman Gans.
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