Handre Pollard in line for second Bulls debut as Johan Ackermann includes 13 Springboks for Ireland and Scotland tour
Springboks Handre Pollard and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Bulls boss Johan Ackermann has named his 31-man touring squad for the United Rugby Championship fixtures against Ulster, Connacht and Glasgow Warriors.
13 Springboks have been included, with Handre Pollard in line to make his second Bulls debut after re-joining the Pretoria-based club from Leicester Tigers ahead of the new season.
Pollard is joined by fellow 2025 Rugby Championship winners Canan Moodie, Jan Hendrik Wessels, Marco van Staden, Wilco Louw, and Willie le Roux.
Springboks update
However, the Bulls will be without captain Marcell Coetzee, who failed a scuppered HIA and will remain at home (for now), where he will be regularly assessed by medical staff. In his absence, Johan Grobbelaar will skipper the squad.
Springboks winger Kurt-Lee Arendse remains in rehab, nursing a hamstring injury. Additionally, tighthead prop Louw will be replaced in the squad by Khuta Mchunu after week two of the tour as per player welfare protocols.
Ruan Nortje has not been included in the touring squad, with the second-rower put on standby following his involvement in the Rugby Championship. He will be available to link up with the team in the event of an emergency.
Cheswill Jooste, Jan Serfontein and Cobus Wiese all missed the victory over Leinster in round two of the URC but return to the squad ahead of the three-match tour.
Ackerman is confident that Pollard, Louw, and Moodie will integrate seamlessly into the team.
“We’ve got individual plans in place, but injuries have already forced one or two changes,” he said.
“Hopefully, we’ll integrate them quickly. It’s probably the biggest challenge for Handré, just because he’s the newest addition, while the others have played with us before.”
Bulls touring squad
It’s been a positive start to Ackermann’s reign as head coach, with the Bulls having secured the maximum 10 points from their first two URC games after beating the Ospreys 53-40 in Round One and Leinster 39-31 in Round Two.
The Bulls now head out on tour to Europe with trips to Ulster, Connacht and Glasgow coming up on successive weekends.
“We are going to go for all three games,” said centre David Kriel.
“We really want to win silverware this season. This tour is going to be the perfect test for that. We are really excited and hopefully everything works well in our favour.”
Bulls touring squad: Alulutho Tshkweni, Canan Moodie, Cheswill Jooste, Cobus Wiese, David Kriel, Devon Williams, Embrose Papier, Francois Kloppers, Gerhard Steenekamp, Handre Pollard, Harold Vorster, Jan Hendrik Wessels, Jan Serfontein, Jean Else, Jeandre Rudolph, JJ Theron, Johan Grobbelaar (c), Johan Goosen, Keagan Johannes, Marco van Staden, Mornay Smith, Mpilo Gumede, Nico Janse van Rensburg, Nama Xaba, Paul de Wet, Reinhardt Ludwig, Sebastian De Klerk, Stravino Jacobs, Wilco Louw, Willie le Roux, Zak Burger.
