Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White may be missing two Springboks in his backline, but a reshuffle still produced a very talented and dangerous running side that will face the Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday night.
Kurt-Lee Arendse returns to the fullback spot, while White has experimented with Springbok Sevens star Stedman Gans on the left wing and veteran Cornal Hendricks on the right. Lionel Mapoe moves into the 13 jersey alongside David Kriel, who continues his run at 12 for the fourth game this season.
Chris Smith comes into the flyhalf role, replacing Johan Goosen, who won’t get a run on the 4G pitch after injuring himself on a similar pitch last season, but the Bulls depth knows little bounds as they have Morne Steyn on the bench this time around.
Up front, the injury to Johan Grobbelaar means that 21-year-old Jan-Hendrik Wessels will start for the first time in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, with Bismarck du Plessis on the bench.
The front row has a very young look about it, especially with 23-year-old Francois Klopper starting at tighthead for the second time.
White said he had taken the decision to remove Goosen from selection considering he had suffered a horrific injury that kept him out of action for 11 months on a 4G artificial pitch, a similar pitch to what the Bulls will play on Saturday night.
“I’m not going to risk him on a 4G pitch, there is no tier one test match that is played on a 4G pitch for a reason. From a point of view of player welfare, he suffered a horrific injury that kept him out for 11 months and I don’t think it is right to risk him on a 4G pitch,” White said.
“I have the fullest confidence that Chris Smith and Morne Steyn can get the job done and they have the role of the 10 jerse this weekend.”
White said he had not discussed it with Goosen but taken the decision himself.
“I’m not asking him; I’m taking the decision on my own. I don’t want to risk him on a 4G pitch, especially with the history of guys getting those sorts of injuries on that sort of pitch.”
White said the team was relishing the prospect of facing Glasgow, even if the weather was bad.
“I am very happy with how the guys have trained this week, in tricky weather conditions. We are in a good space as a team and have the wonderful opportunity to go out there against Glasgow and do what we need to do. Continuing to build on the momentum we already have from this campaign,” White said.
“It is still early days in this new campaign but if we continue to do the basics right week in and week out, everything else will also fall into place.’
The match against Glasgow Warriors will kick-off at 20:35pm (CAT) and televised on SuperSport Rugby.
Vodacom Bulls: Kurt-Lee Arendse; Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel, Stedman Gans; Chris Smith, Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Marcell Coetzee (captain), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Francois Kloppers, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Reinhardt Ludwig, Embrose Papier, Morne Steyn, Wandisile Simelane.