No rest for Bulls’ Springboks as Jake White fields the ‘strongest team’ in four years
Bulls boss Jake White has loaded his squad with returning Springboks for the clash against Ulster.
Jake White has opted to throw his Springboks right back into the mix for the Bulls’ United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster.
South African players must adhere to a compulsory leave of a minimum of eight weeks per season and while many Springboks are on holiday in Mauritius – the likes of Eben Etzebeth and Vicent Koch – and in the bush – Siya Kolisi – the Bulls players will be turning out at Loftus Versfeld.
This is after White opted to load up his team to tackle Irish powerhouse Ulster in the URC.
Jake White calls on Boks
White’s matchday 23 contains no less than 13 Springboks players, nine of which who featured for Rassie Erasmus in the Rugby Championship and four who played in the victory over Argentina in Nelspruit last weekend.
The South African URC teams are not required to rest their stars directly after the international windows and the Bulls boss is well within in his right to add them back into his squad this weekend.
After featuring off the bench against Los Pumas last week, Gerhard Steenekamp and Elrigh Louw start for the Bulls at loosehead prop and blindside flanker respectively. Meanwhile, starting winger in Nelspruit, Kurt-Lee Arendse, is named on the left wing while lock Ruan Nortje captains the side from the second-row.
Johan Grobbelaar, Marco van Staden, Canan Moodie, Willie le Roux and Jan-Hendrik Wessels also represented South Africa during the tournament and feature in the Bulls’ 23.
White believes that with his Springboks returning, he has named the strongest line-up for the Bulls in the last four years.
“I am looking forward to seeing how we play because there is everything there, we have good forwards and good backs with good pace, skill and a bit of everything. This will be the strongest team we have fielded in four years from an experience point of view, and an achievement point of view; like we have Springboks in key positions and even on the bench,” he said.
“We all know that just because you have a strong team does not make anything automatic but it is exciting to see that our four years are coming together now. We have a front row and a backline of Springboks.”
White added: “There is still a job to be done, this is a big game against Ulster, who have also managed not to roll over because they are a good team. They may not have got the results but they have toured South Africa very well in the past and I expect it to be a tough game.”
Team details
Le Roux and Arendse start in the back-three along with Sebastian de Klerk while Moodie partners David Kriel in the midfield. Embrose Papier and Boeta Chamerblain are the starting nine and ten.
In the pack, returning Boks Van Staden and Louw start on the flanks with the excellent Cameron Hanekom at number eight. Nortje skippers the side from the second-row and is joined by Cobus Wiese. Steenekamp returns to the number one jumper and features in the front-row along with Grobbelaar and tighthead Wilco Louw.
Last week’s captain Akker van der Merwe will provide hooking cover in a 5-3 split with fellow forwards Wessels, Francois Klopper, Sintu Manjezi and Celimpilo Gumede. Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans and Aphiwe Dyantyi are the replacement backs.
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Bulls v Ulster teams
Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (c), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Celimpilo Gumede, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Aphiwe Dyantyi
Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Ben Carson, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Sean Reffell, 6 James McNabney, 5 Charlie Irvine, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Corrie Barrett, 2 James McCormick, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Ben Moxham
Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 BST)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 101st league game)
Assistant Referees: JD Jadezweni (SARU), Dylan November (SARU)
TMO: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv
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