- Jake White hopes Duane Vermeulen's presence can inspire the Bulls to two more victories in the Currie Cup that would allow him to rest his captain.
- The talismanic Springbok No 8 has been an outstanding presence at Loftus, but will need management in the coming weeks.
- White is also hopeful Marcel van der Merwe can come into his own as high-quality back-up for Trevor Nyakane.
Jake White hopes his Bulls can deliver positive results against the Cheetahs on Saturday as well as the Sharks in Durban next week for him to give Duane Vermeulen some rest.
The men from Loftus have identified the two fixtures as key to providing them with a solid platform for reaching the play-off stage of the Currie Cup, with the talismanic Springbok No 8 obviously expected to play a key role.
White has previously noted that the 34-year-old has been relentlessly completing full 80-minute stints and needs some management.
"We've definitely reached a stage in the campaign where Duane might need some care. The next two games are the two tough ones, teams who can be considered some of our closest competitors," said the Bulls' director of rugby.
"It's important for us to perhaps target winning these games and we're going to need Duane's influence."
Should the Bulls be able to do that, White would be far more comfortable giving his skipper a break that could stretch to three weeks.
15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 David Kriel, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Substitutes: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Marnus Potgieter
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Howard Mnisi, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Carl Wegner (captain), 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Boan Venter
Substitutes: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Chris Massyn, 20 George Cronje, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 William Small-Smith
Vermeulen has continually been hailed for his outstanding leadership despite having been away from his family for more than four months as he's not commuting between Pretoria and Cape Town.
"If we can pull this through, Duane can go have a two- to three-week break to spend Christmas with his family," said White.
"His kids will be finished with school for the year next week and that would make the timing almost perfect for him to go down-home. He understands what the planning is.
"We're working things out as best we can because I really want to give him a break."
The Bulls are well stocked in the No 8 jersey, with both Arno Botha and Nizaam Carr having extensive experience in the position and former Junior Springbok star Muller Uys itching for game-time.
On the theme of rotation, Marcel van der Merwe's elevation into the starting line-up against the Cheetahs is also significant.
As one of White's more prominent buys, the Springbok tighthead was expected to provide high-quality competition to Trevor Nyakane, but hasn't hit his straps since recovering from ankle surgery.
With the influential Nyakane also in need of some rest, Van der Merwe seizing his chance would be welcome.
"To be fair, last week we played against the best front row in the world. Marcel came on at a time when we were under pressure and it was difficult for him. His first few scrums were all in our own red zone," said White.
"You know that the opposition is going to put in some extra effort in a situation like that - second scrums and double shoves. Province are masters at that.
"But Marcel needs game-time, we must start gauging how he's progressing. He was outstanding in France, but he hasn't played much this year and it's going to take time for him to adjust. This week's an ideal opportunity. It will be good to see him start."
Kick-off at Loftus is at 16:30.