The Vodacom Bulls, last year’s beaten finalists, will be aiming to build on their opening-round 31-15 win over the Emirates Lions when they welcome Scottish outfit Edinburgh to Loftus Versfeld, where kick-off is set for 14h30.
Edinburgh started their season with a brilliant display of complete rugby beating the Dragons by 44-06 and should test the home team for the first 60 minutes.
Prediction: Vodacom Bulls with 20 points.
Springbok utility back Johan Goosen will make a welcome return to action this weekend when he runs out at fullback for the Vodacom Bulls.
Goosen’s return, after almost a year on the sidelines with a serious knee injury he picked up in October 2021 against Cardiff, is one of three changes to the Vodacom Bulls’ backline – Stravino Jacobs replaces Sbu Nkosi at wing after the latter was called up to the Springbok squad this week, while Zak Burger rotates at scrumhalf with Embrose Papier.
In the pack, Springbok No 8 Elrigh Louw is back in the side after he was released from the national squad, while the rest of the pack is unchanged.
Wandisile Simelane, who started at fullback last weekend, is bracketed on the bench with Stedman Gans, while Papier is joined among the replacements by Simphiwe Matanzima, who will play his first game of the new season.
“It was good to be able to start the new season on a winning note, beating a tough Emirates Lions side in their own backyard,” said Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White.
“We had a few areas we identified that we needed to work on this week and the boys were hard at work getting those better.
“Edinburgh is a tough and talented side. They had an incredible game against the Dragons last weekend where they won by a convincing margin. We know how tough they are from our last meeting in the previous season where they beat us. We will need to be at our best if we want to get a good result. We expect another tough encounter against a well-coached outfit.”
Newly recruited Scotland lock Sam Skinner makes his first start for Edinburgh Rugby as club co-captain Grant Gilchrist (lock) and British and Irish Lion Hamish Watson (back-row) return in Pretoria
Skinner and Gilchrist make their first start together at club level as Watson is named among the replacements for Edinburgh’s first-ever fixture in Pretoria.
Edinburgh made two further changes to the pack as former Bull, Pierre Schoeman (loosehead), returning to Loftus Versfeld for the first time since departing for Edinburgh in 2018, and WP Nel (tighthead) get the nod up front.
In the backline, Blair Kinghorn (flyhalf), Henry Pyrgos (scrum-half) and James Lang (centre) all start after featuring from the bench in last weekend’s bonus-point win over Dragons RFC at DAM Health Stadium.
Ahead of the fixture, Head Coach Mike Blair, said: “It’s been a good week of training as we once again acclimatise to conditions in South Africa – the squad are raring to go.
“We’ve talked about the brilliant challenge of facing teams like Bulls in their own backyard and that’s added another layer of motivation for us as a team. These are the games you want to be playing in, especially in one of world rugby’s great stadiums like Loftus.
“As we saw last season, Bulls are a hugely physical side with try-scoring threats across the park. We know we’re going to have be at our best this weekend, but we’re thrilled with the opportunity to once again represent Edinburgh and our supporters back home.”
An unchanged back-three sees Henry Immelman continue at full-back alongside wingers Damien Hoyland and Darcy Graham, with the latter grabbing a brace of tries in a Player of the Match performance against Dragons RFC.
Scotland duo Lang and Mark Bennett (outside centre) link up in the capital midfield as Pyrgos and Kinghorn form a revamped half-back pairing.
In the pack, hooker Dave Cherry retains his place at hooker as Fijian international Viliame Mata (number 8) anchors an unchanged back-row which sees Luke Crosbie (openside flanker) and Jamie Ritchie (blindside flanker) once again combine for the early kick-off in Pretoria.
Elsewhere, tighthead prop Luan de Bruin is once again fit and selected among the replacements after making his injury comeback for FOSROC Super6 side Southern Knights last weekend.
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 15. Johan Goosen, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. David Kriel, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 10. Chris Smith, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Ruan Vermaak, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 1. Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Francois Klopper, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Morne Steyn, 23. Wandisile Simelane / Stedman Gans.
Edinburgh: 15. Henry Immelman, 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Mark Bennett, 12. James Lang, 11. Damien Hoyland, 10. Blair Kinghorn, 9. Henry Pyrgos, 8. Viliame Mata, 7. Luke Crosbie, 6. Jamie Ritchie (cc), 5. Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4. Sam Skinner, 3. WP Nel, 2. Dave Cherry, 1. Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16. Stuart McInally, 17. Boan Venter, 18. Luan de Bruin, 19. Marshall Sykes, 20. Hamish Watson, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Chris Dean.
