Bulls welcome back Boks against Munster

19/04/2024 12:02

Elrigh Louw will captain a Vodacom Bulls side strengthened by the return of their Springbok stars for the URC clash with defending champions Munster in Pretoria on Saturday.

Having suffered a Champions Cup quarter-final defeat in England last weekend, the Bulls will turn their focus to securing a home Vodacom URC playoff.

Jake White’s team has been significantly strengthened for Saturday’s clash at Loftus Versfeld, recalling a host of players who remained in Pretoria last week.

Springbok flank Louw starts at No 8 and takes over the captaincy from the injured Marcell Coetzee. He is joined in a sizeable back row by Reinhardt Ludwig and Cameron Hanekom, who shifts to openside flank in the absence of Coetzee and Marco van Staden.

Lock Ruan Vermaak and a front row of Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar and Gerhard Steenekamp are all recalled, with young second-rower JF Heerden joining Hanekom as the only two forwards to retain their starting roles from last weekend.

Winger Sebastian de Klerk is the only backline player to start again, as Embrose Papier and Johan Goosen are back as the starting halfbacks, David Kriel returns at inside centre, while World Cup-winners Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Willie le Roux are recalled.

Bulls — 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw (c), 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Cameron Hanekom, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Subs: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Devon Williams.

Photo: Christiaan Kotze/Gallo Images

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