Final teams not announced yet

Neither the Vodacom Blue Bulls nor Emirates Lions has selected their final team for the Super Rugby series of which the warm-up match will take place in Polokwane on 13 February.
The Bulls training squad features some new faces among the regular squad members. New Bulls player, Lizo Gqoboka has settled in well and is working hard with the rest of the Super Rugby squad. Winger Luther Obi also joined the squad recently.
A number of injured players will join the fray as they complete rehabilitation, while Grant Hattingh, Handre Pollard, JJ Engelbrecht, Bjorn Basson and Jesse Kriel, who is playing club rugby in Japan, will return during the month.
Injured players Deon Stegmann, Jannes Kirsten, Nick de Jager and Travis Ismaiel already returned to the squad while Irne Herbst, Morne Mellett, Jaco Visagie, Roelof Smit, Ruan Steenkamp, Hanro Liebenberg, Piet van Zyl, Dries Swanepoel and Warrick Gelant will join during this month with Callie Visagie to engage with the squad next month.
The squad is under new coach Nollis Marais with high performance manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg. Janse van Rensburg in a recent press release said there is great excitement to have Gqoboka and Obi in the squad.
“They are highly rated all around. We are pretty pleased with the fact that they have joined the Bulls family and are keen to see their contributions to the squad,” he said, adding that the squad has a youthful look.
All the Lions Currie Cup heroes, except for Kwagga Smith who is contracted for National Sevens duty, have been retained for Super Rugby while nine other stalwarts have strengthened the squad.
Flanker Derick Minnie returned after a long injury lay-off and winger Ruan Combrink and centre Harold Vorster have also been added to the group after missing some Currie Cup action due to injury.
Springbok fly-half Elton Jantjies, centre Lionel Mapoe and hooker Akker van der Merwe, with Warrick Tecklenburg also returned from overseas duty.
The new squad members are former Pumas scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, Leopards number nine Dillon Smit, Leopards lock Robert Kruger and Pumas prop Corné Fourie, who are now all full-blooded Lions.
Pumas fullback JW Bell is the only new face who hasn’t donned the Lions jersey yet.

RC Myburgh
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