Kriel to wing it for Bulls against Ospreys

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David Kriel has seen his Currie Cup form rewarded with a place in the Vodacom Bulls team to face the Ospreys in a crucial Vodacom United Rugby Championship match on Friday night.

Jake White has selected a strong side for the URC round-18 clash, which will be the last opportunity for the SA-based side to run out before the playoff stages.

A win for the Bulls will keep their hopes alive of potentially securing a home United Rugby Championship quarter-final, pending the permutations of other fixtures over the weekend, while Ospreys will be gunning for the Welsh Shield which they are scrambling for together with domestic rivals Scarlets.

Utility back David Kriel returns to start at wing, while Cornal Hendricks will also be in the run-on XV, partnering with Harold Vorster in midfield.

On the bench, backup flyhalf Juan Mostert and centre Stedman Gans will have an opportunity to make an impact as substitutes, while Springbok scrumhalf Embrose Papier is likely to bring a spark later in the game.

A strong reserve bench of forwards include Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel and Arno Botha.

“There is a lot to play for in this match, so we expect a huge battle against a motivated Ospreys side that will be looking to claim the Welsh Shield with a win over us,” said boss White.

“We expect the match to be a tough encounter, with Ospreys set to be, as always, competitive in the set pieces. We have seen what they are capable of, and they will no doubt want to get a good result in front of their home crowd.”

The match will kick off at 9:10pm and be televised on SuperSport.

Bulls – 15 Canan Moodie, 14 David Kriel, 13 Cornal Hendricks, 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 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Juan Mostert, 23 Stedman Gans.

Watch: Why we back the Stormers for playoff glory

Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images

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Dylan Jack