The Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White, has announced his match-day 23 that will face Munster Rugby in round 5 of the 2022 season of the United Rugby Championship.

The side, which will be led by Marcel Coetzee, will step onto the field on Saturday (15 October) with six changes to the team that started against Glasgow.

White has given Simphiwe Matanzima a start at loose-head prop, with Johan Goosen (fly-half) and Harold Vorster (inside centre) returning to the matchday squad.

Last week, Goosen missed out as a precautionary measure to protect the player from 4G surface the side played on.

Mornay Smith slots in at tight-head prop, whilst the second row remains the same with the only change at open-side flanker, where WJ Steenkamp will get his first run of this season’s European campaign.

Embrose Papier (scrum-half) swaps jersey’s with Zak Burger, who will get his run from the bench.

The back three combination of Wandisile Simelane, Cornel Hendricks and Kurt-lee Arendse will run out at Thomond Park, looking to add more tries to the team’s 14 of the 2022 campaign.

The matchup is set be an enthralling outing as both sides look to bounce back from round four defeats, motivation that is not lost to the Bulls mentor. Speaking on the choice of the playing 23, White said the changes were routine.

“Nothing untoward (referring to the changes), we would have changed anyway and we will probably change for the game against the Sharks too before we go into the break. These changes help keep good morale and motivation for the entire squad,” he remarked.

The Bulls squad is one of the youngest in the competition and this is something that excites White.

“I am very proud that these guys are coming through the ranks. 5-10 years ago, we wouldn’t have this sort of team makeup, where young guys form part of the core of the team. It is fantastic to see these players graduate and come through the youth system, and in a couple of years we will have a strong Vodacom Bulls team,” he said.

Speaking on the Bulls’ opponents this weekend, the Bulls mentor said Munster are a good team, playing at home (in Limerick), with their back against the wall. He believes it is going to be a tough encounter.

White also noted that there is a massive amount of test match rugby experience for the Munster players that play for Ireland and the Bulls anticipate they will go back to draw from that experience.

“This weekend will be a good test for us, we are a young side – with players in their early 20’s – yet we have done well, far exceeding expectations in the season past and as (last season’s), finalists we must (also) consider that other teams will want to up their game against us, perhaps preparing for our games a bit more than they may have done previously,” White concluded.

The Munster clash will kick-off at 20:35pm (CAT).

BULLS vs MUNSTER STARTING XV: 1. Simphiwe Matanzima, 2. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 3. Mornay Smith, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 5. Run Nortje, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. WJ Steenkamp, 8. Elrigh Louw, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Johan Goosen, 11. Wandisile Simelane, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 14. Cornel Hendricks and 15. Kurt-lee Arendse.

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Bismarck Du Plessis, 17. Dylan Smith, 18. Jacques van Rooyen, 19. Ruan Vermaak, 20. Marco Van Staden, 21. Zak Burger, 22. Chris Smith, 23. David Kriel.

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