White selects strong team for Edinburgh battle, but Springbok hooker will not play against his brother
Except for hooker, Akker van der Merwe, who will not have the opportunity to play at URC level on Friday against his brother, Duhan, Jake White probably selected his strongest possible team to close the Bulls' four-week URC tour in Europe on Friday night with a game against in Edinburgh in Scotland.
Although White basically selected his strongest possible team, the omission of Akker van der Merwe on hooker or on the bench is noteworthy.
In South Africa, several amateur analysts have already begun to lick their lips about the possibility that the two Van der Merwe brothers, Armand (Akker, on hooker for the Bulls) and Duhan (on wing for Edinburgh) could face each other in the match.
However, that will now have to wait until a possible next time.
“It is just normal rotation. Next week we have Connacht, then Saracens and then the Sharks await, so we have a rough month ahead of us, so we would like to keep guys fresh and give guys opportunity because they have trained hard in the pre-season. We have been very fortunate that we have played 32 of the 33 players who we have here on tour and that is great because we also must make sure that all our guys are match-ready. We need to keep them fresh and it is basically controlling what we can from our camp,” White said when asked about the changes made to the matchday 23.
There are a few changes made to the matchday 23 except for the backline which will see the services of Sergeal Petersen and Sebastian de Klerk retained on the wings with David Kriel and Stedman Gans combining at the centre once more whilst Devon Williams continues to shine at fullback.
Scrumhalf, Embrose Papier will have Johan Goosen (flyhalf) as partner at halfback. Ahead of the Papier/Goosen duo will be a forward pack led by loose-head prop, Gerhard Steenekamp, alongside hooker, Johan Grobbelaar and tight-head prop Wilco Louw. Behind the powerful trio will be the lock combination of Ruan Vermaak alongside his co-captain and namesake, Ruan Nortje.
The team’s other co-captain, Marcell Coetzee, will run at blind-side flank with Elrigh Louw manning the openside flank position, while Cameron Hanekom will continue with his impressive start to the season running out as the herd’s dominant eighth man.
Photo: Lee Warren
White has opted to deploy a 6-2 split bench once more with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Jaco van der Walt set to feature for the men in blue for the first time this season. Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr, Keagan Johannes and Cyle Brink complete the impact squad.
On expectations against Edinburgh, White said he is expecting a very tough game with 13 Scottish internationals in their starting XV.
“They have massive amounts of experience. The return of Jamie Ritchie will also be a big boost for them. They are generally always there or thereabout in the top eight, they are not a team that surprises everybody by finishing in the top part of the draw. It’s going to be a tough game for us considering we are into our fourth week of the tour which is always tough because people start making plans about going back to South Africa. So, there are a lot of things we are going to have to make sure we get right tomorrow,” White remarked.
Asked about coming up against Sean Everitt who was at Loftus at the end of last season, the Bulls mentor said he worked with Everitt at the Sharks and when he was with the Bulls.
“So, I know him very well. He is a very good coach who has been around for a while. Good coaches are the ones who can adapt and I think it will be interesting and I look forward to it,” White concluded.
Kick-off at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh is set for 19:35 local time (21:35 in South Africa).
BULLS vs EDINBURGH 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. Sergeal Petersen, 12. David Kriel, 13. Stedman Gans, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Devon Williams
REPLACEMENTS: 16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 24. Cyle Brink
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