Bjorn Basson and Akona Ndungane have recovered from injury to take their places in the Blue Bulls team to face the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Their inclusion sees Sampie Mastriet and Jamba Ulengo drop out of the squad in two of three changes from the side that defeated the Golden Lions at the weekend.

The third and final change also comes in the backline, where Piet van Zyl continues his rotation with Rudy Paige.

Coach Frans Ludeke has retained the forward pack that performed so admirably against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

On the bench, Bandise Maku returns and is favoured over Callie Visagie as the replacement hooker, while William Small-Smith replaces Ryan Nell. Tony Jantjies is bracketed with Tian Schoeman and will undergo a late fitness test ahead of the trip.

Blue Bulls – 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann (c), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Basil Short, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Tian Schoeman/Tony Jantjies, 22 William Small-Smith.

Photo: Barry Aldworth/BackpagePix