Jake White has made just one change to the Vodacom Bulls’ starting lineup for the north-south derby against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
White has largely stuck with the same team that was able to claim a bonus-point win over Irish side Ulster in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship last Saturday.
The only change to the starting XV comes in midfield ,where Lionel Mapoe replaces Cornal Hendricks at outside centre, with the latter set to play off the bench.
There are a couple of further alterations to the bench, as the Bulls will be able to call on the experience of veteran hooker Bismarck du Plessis, while Janko Swanepoel will provide second-row cover.
“After a few weeks of testing ourselves against some of the top overseas sides, we are excited to be involved in a local derby this week against an in-form side like the Stormers,” said Bulls boss White.
“We expect a very tough match in Cape Town. The Stormers have shown over the past few weeks how much of a competitive side they are in the URC. They beat us at Loftus Versfeld in our last encounter, and they will definitely be an even tougher opponent this weekend in their own backyard.”
Bulls – 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Cornal Hendricks.
Bok duo back to boost Stormers against Bulls
Photo: Massimiliano Carnabuci/LiveMedia/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
