Victor Matfield has been pushed back into the Bulls starting side following injuries to key players.

It was hoped that Matfield would not be needed on the Bulls' four-match tour to Australasia. The plan was to rest the veteran lock, who would still tour with the Bulls as part of the coaching staff.

However, injuries have forced coach Frans Ludeke's hand, and Matfield has been brought back into the team. He will start at No 5 against the Highlanders on Friday, although Flip van der Merwe will retain the captaincy.

The tour-ending injuries to Deon Stegmann and Dewald Potgieter see some changes to the back row. Grant Hattingh starts at No 8, while Jono Ross and Jacques du Plessis are on the flanks.

Bulls  – 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Grant Hattingh, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe (c), 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Marcel van der Merwe, 18 Paul Willemse, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Pieter van Zyl, 21 Handré Pollard, 22 William Small-Smith, 23 Morné Mellett.

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images