Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann has pressed the reset button ahead of Friday night’s Investec Champions Cup match against Pau.
In all, there are 11 changes from last weekend’s team: seven in the starting forwards, four in the backline, plus multiple bench rotations.
Captain Ruan Nortje gets a rest among the replacements with Marcell Coetzee back in harness as captain. Two of the most exciting changes feature the return of Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheswill Jooste, both on the wings. This means a shift for speedster Sebastian de Klerk, who slots in at outside centre.
In-form Mpilo Gumede gets a welcome start while promising lock Reinhardt Ludwig is also back in favour.
The bench offers a good blend of grunt and guile with the like of Marco van Staden, Cobus Wiese and Jeandre Rudolph to call on.
Vodacom Bulls
- Jan-Hendrik Wessels
- Akker van der Merwe
- Mornay Smith
- Ruan Vermaak
- Reinhardt Ludwig
- Marcell Coetzee (c)
- Mpilo Gumede
- Nizaam Carr
- Zak Burger
- Handre Pollard
- Kurt-Lee Arendse
- Harold Vorster
- Sebastian de Klerk
- Cheswill Jooste
- Willie le Roux
Replacements
- Marco van Staden
- Alu Tshakweni
- Francois Klopper
- Ruan Nortje
- Cobus Wiese
- Keagan Johannes
- David Kriel
- Jeandre Rudolph