Burger Odendaal will make his Currie Cup debut for the Blue Bulls against the Golden Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The 21-year-old, who was schooled at Monument High before representing the Lions at age-group level, will get his first taste of Currie Cup rugby at inside centre, having already featured for their U19, U21 and Vodacom Cup teams.
He will be partnered by Springbok centre JJ Engelbrecht in a Bulls side that has a nice blend between youth and experience. Odendaal is the only player in the run-on team yet to experience Currie Cup action, while promising youngsters Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jesse Kriel also look set to make their debuts off the bench.
Deon Stegmann will captain the side from the blindside flank, where he will form a powerhouse loose trio with last year's captain Jono Ross and Jacques Engelbrecht.
Blue Bulls – 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Jono Ross, 6 Deon Stegmann (c), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Marcel van der Merwe, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Wiaan Liebenberg, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Jesse Kriel.
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
