The Bulls have made two changes to the matchday 23 ensemble that will do duty in round two of the 2023/24 United Rugby Championship.

The Pretoria outfit travel to Belfast to take on Ulster on Sunday. Kick-off time is at 21:00 (SA Time).

Utility back Cornal Hendricks, speedster Stravino Jacobs and Chris Smith come into the matchday 23 for Harold Vorster (who is not on tour with the team due to injury) Wandisile Simelane and Jaco van der Walt.

Hendricks slots into the starting xv at inside centre and Jacobs will play at left wing, whilst Chris Smith will get a run from the impact squad. The former lines up alongside David Kriel at outside centre and Sebastian de Klerk is the other wing. Devon Williams will once again start at fullback.

The backline will be conducted by the halfback combination of Embrose Papier and Johan Goosen whilst the forward pack remains unchanged from the match against Scarlets.

Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw line up in the front row with Ruan Vermaak and Ruan Nortje in the second, supported Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw and last week’s player of the match, Cameron Hanekom in the third row.

Director of rugby, Jake White has opted for a 5-3 split which will see Akker van der Merwe, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Chris Smith, and Stedman Gans will set a feature from the impact squad.

“It is early days but it is nice to have guys like (Cameron) Hanekom make their debut and really put in the kind of performances that he did, winning the man of the match. It is quite nice as a coach to know that there is still a couple of combinations that we can try. I thought Nizaam (Carr) was wonderful and he went into the open-side and did very well,” said Jake White at the announcement of the team.

The game will be played on a 4G pitch and it will most likely rain and that presents a lot of challenges for the Bulls, but White believes they must learn from last year.

“Their set pieces are strong and they have great players in certain positions and we must make sure we match them in those positions,” the coach remarked.

On the opposition, White said it is going to be a tough game, playing Ulster early up.

“They have a lot of passion and they are playing in their new field and I am sure they will want to impress on their first home game and they will be inspired because we had the same feel last week on our new turf. From the start we had last week, we must play well and build on,” he concluded.

BULLS vs ULSTER Starting XV: 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Ruan Nortje (c), 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. Elrigh Louw, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Johan Goosen, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 12. Cornal Hendricks, 13. David Kriel, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Devon Williams

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Akker van der Merwe, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Zak Burger, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Stedman Gans

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