The Vodacom Bulls return to Fortress Loftus today @ 16h45 for a tricky game against Tafel Lager Griquas. These two teams currently occupy second and third on the log respectively and victory will go a long way in ensuring they remain in the hunt for home ground advantage in the semi-finals.
The Vodacom Bulls are introducing a few new faces to their already impressive squad while Griquas had to make several changes forced by injuries to some of the stars.
Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, has made a handful of the changes to the team that was in action against the Cell C Sharks on Friday.
Arno Botha is one of two changes to the forwards' pack, where he replaces Muller Uys at blindside flank. Gerhard Steenekamp’s inclusion in the front row, where he takes the place of Lizo Gqoboka at loosehead prop, is the only other change to the front eight.
Lionel Mapoe makes a return to the side where he will feature at the outside centre, alongside No.12 Harold Vorster, with Cornal Hendricks making a shift to the right-wing. Kurt-Lee Arendse will add firepower on the other wing as he replaces Stedman Gans, who will provide cover from the bench this week.
White said ahead of the game: “We are on the back of a disappointing result against a strong Cell C Sharks side, and now we will face an equally committed and dangerous Tafel Lager Griquas team. The side from Kimberley has proven that they are a strong competitor in this Carling Currie Cup competition.
“It’s a short turnaround time for us, and we have had a few areas we have had to work on in the past few days to ensure that we can be competitive and bounce back this week. We do hope that the changes we have made will yield positive results and that we can be able to play our best rugby again on Wednesday.”
Tafel Lager Griquas head coach, Scott Mathie has named an almost new starting lineup. Eight changes in total were made to the starting line-up, with most of the players dropped from the starting line-up moved to the bench indicating the changes made were merely done to manage the workload of the squad.
In the backline, it is only Eduan Keyter, George Whitehead and Stefan Ungerer that remained from the side that lost against the Sigma Lions in Round 9.
Captain Ruan Steenkamp moves to #6 with Luyolo Dapula #7 and Hanru Sirgel #8 the new face in the looseforward trio. Cameron Lindsay replaces Adre Smith at lock while Janco Uys moves to the bench in place of Alandre van Rooyen.
Prediction: Vodacom Bulls with 10-20 points.
Vodacom Bulls: 15. David Kriel, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Arno Botha, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c) 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Schalk Erasmus, 1. Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Jacques van Rooyen, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Jacques du Plessis, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Stedman Gans, 24. Joe van Zyl, 25. Muller Uys, 26. WJ Steenkamp, 27. Marco Jansen van Vuren, 28. Richard Kriel.
Tafel Lager Griquas: 15. Ashlon Davids, 14. Eduan Keyter, 13. Chris Hollis, 12. Jonathan Francke, 11. Enver Brandt, 10. George Whitehead, 9. Stefan Ungerer, 8. Hanru Sirgel, 7. Luyolo Dapula, 6. Ruan Steenkamp ©, 5. Cameron Lindsay, 4. Stefan Willemse, 3. Janu Botha, 2. Alandre van Rooyen, 1. Mox Mxoli. Replacements: 16. Janco Uys, 17. Andrew Kuhn, 18. Erich de Jager, 19. Jaendre Leonard, 20. Gideon vd Merwe, 21. Reagan Oranje, 22. Andre Swarts, 23. Ederies Arendse, 24. Andrew Beerwinkel, 25. Johan Momsen, 26. Theo Boshoff.