Duane Vermeulen and Warrick Gelant have both returned to the Vodacom Bulls’ starting lineup for their match against the Lions in Pretoria on Saturday.

Gelant has recovered from the injury he picked up on the tour to Australasia, while Vermeulen returns from the World Cup rest protocols in a side that feature six changes from the one that drew with the Highlanders in Dunedin last weekend.

Three of those changes come in the backline as Gelant replaces Divan Rossouw, who drops to the bench. Rosko Specman has also recovered from injury and takes the place of centre Dylan Sage, with Johnny Kotze moving to midfield as a result.

Andre Warner comes in at scrumhalf in a rotational change with Embrose Papier.

In the pack, Vermeulen’s return sees Marco van Staden shift to six. The loss of lock Jason Jenkins and hooker Schalk Brits to injury allows Jannes Kirsten and Jaco Visagie to come into the starting lineup.

Bulls – 15 Warrick Gelant , 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handré Pollard (c) , 9 Andre Warner, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marco van Staden , 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Subs: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Ruan Steenkamp, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Divan Rossouw.

Vodacom Super Rugby teams (Round 18)

Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix