Handrè Pollard will play at inside centre when the Vodacom Blue Bulls take on DHL Western Province in the semi-finals of the Absa Currie Cup in Cape Town on Saturday.

Pollard will replace injured Burger Odendaal for the match at DHL Newlands in one of two backline changes made by coach Frans Ludeke. In the other, Rudy Paige will start at scrumhalf, with Piet van Zyl playing off the bench.

Pollard came off the bench in the final Absa Currie Cup league match against GWK Griquas last weekend and his place amongst the reserves will be taken by Sampie Mastriet.

In the pack, Ludeke rotated Marcel van der Merwe and Werner Kruger, with the latter starting at Newlands.

Ludeke has no issues with the Springbok pivot playing at inside centre. “It was easy to slot in Handrè at 12 where he played a lot of his rugby last year. He fitted in nicely and we are expecting a special effort from him, but this will not be won by individuals, but in a mighty team effort.”

Ludeke admitted travelling to Cape Town as the underdog. “WP must be favourites and rightly so. They have played great rugby this season and deservedly are hosting a semi-final. We lost to them twice in this competition so are under no illusion on the magnitude of our challenge. All that said, we are certainly not travelling down south to go and surrender. We are going down there to win the match and get into the final. That was what this group has worked for very hard this season,” Ludeke said.

Vodacom Blue Bulls captain Deon Stegmann confirmed his side’s determination.

“We were very slow out of the blocks, but I think we are in a good place now. We are improving every week and as you know, in knock-out rugby anything can happen. We need to play to our strengths and make sure we don’t give away silly possession for them to counter-attack. I am happy that we our first phase game is good and if we execute well, we will ask questions of their defence. It is going to be a great game and we are all excited to give it our best go.”

The team to play WP is:  Ulrich Beyers, Akona Ndungane, William Small-Smith, Handrè Pollard,  Bjorn Basson, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Rudy Paige, Jono Ross, Jacques du Plessis, Deon Stegmann (c), Grant Hattingh, Paul Willemse, Werner Kruger, Bongo Mbonambi, Dean Greyling. Replacements: Callie Visagie, Marcel van der Merwe, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Wiaan Liebenberg, Piet van Zyl, Sampie Mastriet, Jesse Kriel.

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Meanwhile, the Blue Bulls junior teams were also announced for Friday’s semi-final matches in ABSA junior leagues on Loftus Versfeld. Admission is free.

The  Blue Bulls Under-21 team will host the Golden Lions Under-21’s, while the Blue Bulls Under-19 team will host the  Sharks Under-19’s. The Under-21 side finished second on their log and the Under-19s first.

The teams are:

The Blue Bulls Under-21 team to playGolden Lions at 15h00 is: Duncan Matthews, Kefentse Mahlo, Marquit September, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Jade Stighling, Joshua Stander, JP Smith, Clyde Davids, Jannes Kirsten, Ruan Steenkamp (c), Marvin Orie, Irne Herbst, Neethling Fouche, Jan Enslin, Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: Arno van Wyk, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Jean Droste, Roelof Smit, Carlo Engelbrecht, Kobus Marais, Dan Kriel.

The  Blue Bulls Under-19 team to play the  Sharks at 13h00 is: Warrick Gelant, Jinx Molapo, Jurie Linde, Adrian Maebane, Duhan van der Merwe, Dewald Human, Ivan van Zyl, Hanro Liebenberg (c), Abongile Nonkontwana, Francois Steyn, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Matthys Basson, Jan van der Merwe, Njabula Gumede. Replacements: Vuyo Khatide, Johan van Wyk, Stefaan Grundelingh, Allison Calvonn, Menzi Nhlabathi, Theo Maree, Wyatt Murphy, Attie Louw.