Marnus Potgieter will earn his first start of the Carling Currie Cup on the right wing when the Blue Bulls take on the Sharks on Saturday.

The promising young backline player has been considered a possible superstar of the future since his school days at Affies, but unfortunately injuries so far have prevented him from breaking through properly as a senior player.

Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White, has made two positional changes to the backline with David Kriel and Kurt-Lee Arendse reverting back to fullback and left wing respectively.

In the first of two change to the forwards Ruan Nortje returns at lock with Sintu Manjezi providing cover from the bench. The second sees Jacques van Rooyen getting back into the number 1 jumper after serving his one week ban for a red card against Western Province.

Schalk Erasmus makes a welcomed return as the replacement hooker and will earn his Blue Bulls debut in the Carling Currie Cup should he take the field.

Young Mornay Smith is also expected to earn his first cap of the season as front row cover. After Springbok tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe’s struggling performance against the Cheetahs last week, the selection of the 22-year-old Smith, a former pupil of Hoërskool Eldoraigne in Centurion, is very interesting. Smith can probably establish himself as part of the 23-man squad with a good performance if he gets his chance in Durban.

The final change amongst the replacements is Marco Jansen van Vuren as the utility back option.

“The Sharks have been the inform team from earlier this year and will be looking to get one over us. Durban is never an easy place to play and coupled with the humidity our job becomes that much harder. However, we are confident in our style of play and we know exactly what we need to do come Saturday,” said White.

Kick-off is 19:00 and the match will be televised on the SuperSport Grandstand and Rugby channels.

Blue Bulls: 15. David Kriel, 14. Marnus Potgieter, 13. Stedman Gans, 12. Cornal Hendricks, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Ivan van Zyl, 8. Duane Vermeulen (c), 7. Arno Botha, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Trevor Nyakane, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 1. Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements: 16. Schalk Erasmus, 17. Gerhard Steenekamp, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Sintu Manjezi, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Marco Jansen van Vuren.

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