Experienced players Francois Klopper and Stedman Gans are unlikely to feature in the Currie Cup again after being promoted, with the Bulls’ squad now settled.
After making a few changes ahead of their Currie Cup fixture against the Pumas, and promoting two players to the United Rugby Championship (URC) squad, the Bulls say their remaining squad will likely remain unchanged for the duration of the Currie Cup.
The Bulls included several senior and fringe players in their matchday 23s that beat the Western Province 48–23 and the Sharks 64–0 (both teams that have opted to play even younger sides) while gradually promoting players to the URC squad that will feature from next month.
The team facing the Pumas at Loftus at 3pm on Saturday includes two debutants: former Grey College prop Casper Badenhorst and Selborne College old boy Daimon O’Connel, a scrumhalf. That takes the number of debutants up to 11 so far, with assistant coaches James Winstanley and Josh Strauss saying there could be six or seven more.
Klopper and Gans promoted
Still, with senior players Francois Klopper and Stedman Gans (a former Blitzboks star) being promoted to the URC side after good performances, the Bulls coaches said they have more or less a settled squad for the rest of the tournament.
“In the coming weeks, we need to service four teams, being the URC, the Currie Cup, U21 and U19 teams. So we are in the process now of how we are going to allocate players across the various groups,” Winstanley said.
“But we do have a core group that will remain throughout the Currie Cup. It’s anticipated that that group will stay and there won’t be any changes as we move towards the tail-end.
“In previous seasons and at other franchises, you see the URC players come into the Currie Cup. As it stands now, we have a Currie Cup squad that will complete the tournament.”
Zak Burger to captain the Bulls against Pumas
Scrumhalf Zak Burger captains the team on Saturday in the absence of Nama Xaba, who along with experienced centre Stravino Jacobs, picked up a small injury. The pair should be back in a week or two.
Strauss backed Burger, Jeandré Rudolph and Springbok lock Marvin Orie to provide leadership in what is still a fairly young side.
JJ Theron comes in for Xaba at flanker, Jean Erasmus replaces Klopper at tighthead and Aphiwe Dyantyi shifts to wing to accommodate Katlego Letebele on the right. Cornel Smit also gets his first start, in place of Gans.
Bulls starting XV: Boeta Chamberlain, Katlego Letebele, Cornel Smit, Chris Smit, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Jaco van der Walt, Zak Burger (Capt), Jeandre Rudolph, JJ Theron, Junior Pokomela, Marvin Orie, Sintu Manjezi, Jean Erasmus, Juann Else, Dylan Smith. Bench: Esethu Mnebelele, Lizo Gqoboka, Casper Badenhorst, Dylan de Leeuw, Jaco Grobbelaar, Marco Ferreira, Daimon O’Connel, PA van Niekerk.
