Three Springboks return to the Vodacom Bulls’ starting lineup for Saturday’s match against Cardiff at Loftus Versfeld.
Willie le Roux, who came off the bench in the Bulls’ 26-19 win against Glasgow two weeks ago, starts at fullback in place of Devon Williams, who drops to the bench.
Marcell Coetzee has recovered from a knee injury suffered in the Glasgow warm-up to reclaim the No 6 jersey from Jannes Kirsten, while Cameron Hanekom is back at No 8 after sitting in the stands at Scotstoun Stadium because of a stiff groin.
In other changes, Zak Burger gets a start at 9 with Embrose Papier being rested as a precaution, while prop Alulutho Tshakweni comes on to the bench.
“Embrose rolled his knee just before half time in the game against Glasgow,” said Bulls coach Jake White. “He’s had scans and everything’s fine, but we don’t want to rush him as he will be important in the back-end of the competition.”
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The Bulls are third on the Vodacom URC log and chasing a top-two finish, while Cardiff are fifth.
BULLS – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Ruan Nortje (c), 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Bench: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Devon Williams, 23 Stedman Gans.
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Photo: Euan Cherry/Getty Images
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