Bjorn Basson will wear the Blue Bulls No 15 jersey in their Currie Cup opener against Western Province in Pretoria on Friday.

Basson, who holds the Currie Cup record for most tries in a season, will make up the back three with wingers Jade Stighling and Jamba Ulengo, who was the leading try-scorer in the competition last year.

Lock Eli Snyman is the only uncapped player in the match 23 and will make his debut if used off the bench.

'I am expecting a solid start from our guys,' said coach Nollis Marais. 'We have worked on some issues that dogged the team earlier in the season and will be looking at eliminating them. WP have a formidable team, though, and will travel here with lots of confidence.'

Blue Bulls – 15  Bjorn Basson, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha (c), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Entienne Swanepoel, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Nqoba Mxoli, 18 Eli Snyman, 19 Hanro Liebenberg, 20 Andre Warner, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Dan Kriel.

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images