The Bulls have named a youthful match-day squad to face the Pumas in their final regular season Currie Cup match at the Mbombela
Stadium in Nelspruit on Sunday.
A host of under-21 champions will get their first taste of senior action for the Currie Cup log leaders.
Dawid Kellerman takes over the inside centre position alongside Marnus Potgieter. Clinton Swart starts at fullback as the utility back continues to show his worth across the backline, while Jade Stighling and Stravino Jacobs continue to patrol the wings. Experienced Springboks, Morne Steyn and Ivan van Zyl, resume their successful halfback partnership.
Amongst the forwards, Arno Botha takes over the captaincy with Duane Vermeulen earning a well-deserved break as Tim Agaba steps up to the plate at the back of the scrum. Young WJ Steenkamp rounds out the exciting loose trio.
Janko
Swanepoel will make his first start of the Currie Cup at No 5 lock,
after a debut of the bench a few days ago against the Lions. There's an
all-new and exciting front row in Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Gerhard Steenekamp
propping up Joe van Zyl.
The replacements are a mix of experience and youth, with Springboks Lizo Gqoboka and Marcel van der Merwe serving as backup props while Divan Venter, Keagan Johannes and Kabelo Mokoena all looking to earn their debuts.
"This is a great opportunity for us to give some of our exciting youngsters a taste of senior rugby. These boys have done really well on the training field and have been eagerly awaiting their opportunity, and now they get to show what they are made of on the big stage. It's important that they get up to speed with their senior colleagues while still securing a victory in Nelspruit," director of rugby Jake White explained.
Sunday's clash kicks off at 16:00.
Teams:
Pumas
15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Alwayno Visagie, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Devon Williams, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 3 Ignatius Prinsloo, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Morgan Naude
Substitutes: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Eduan Swart, 18 Heath Backhouse, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Giovan Snyman, 21 Tiaan Botes, 22 Sebastian de Klerk, 23 Liam Hendricks
Bulls
15 Clinton Swart, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Dawid Kellerman, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Arno Botha (captain), 6 WJ Steenkamp, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Substitutes: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Divan Venter, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Kabelo Mokoena, 23 Jay-Cee Nel
Travelling reserves: 24 Janco Uys, 25 Mornay Smith, 26 Johan Mulder