Ruan Combrinck will start at fullback when the Vodacom Bulls face Connacht in round two of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Friday.

The South African side will take on the Irish regional team at The Sportsground in Galway, with kick-off at 8:35pm SA time.

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has made a handful of changes to the team that featured in the opening round last week.

Arguably, the most notable includes Ruan Combrinck earning his first start for the Bulls after making his debut off the bench during the domestic Currie Cup campaign.

The seven-Test Springbok will start at fullback alongside Stravino Jacobs, who has been drafted in on the left wing.

The forwards will buckle down with a new-look front row as loosehead prop Lizo Gqoboka, hooker Joe van Zyl and tighthead prop Jacques van Rooyen start.

“We have another tough encounter ahead of us. To face two top Irish sides back to back is no easy challenge,” said White.

“Connacht is a strong, well-coached side, and they will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Cardiff in the opening round.

“We have also put the defeat to Leinster behind us, and we look forward to testing ourselves, again this week, against another quality outfit.”

Bulls – 15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Jacques du Plessis, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Stedman Gans.