Cape Town – Blue Bulls coach Jake White has refreshed his starting XV by making six changes and three positional switches for Friday’s must-win Currie Cup encounter against the Griffons in Pretoria (5.05pm kickoff).
The last time these two teams met was on March 31 in Welkom, and the Griffons pulled off a sensational 32-28 triumph.
But White insisted on Thursday that while there was no chance of the Bulls underestimating the Northern Free State outfit this time around, the fact that his team are on “46th week” of the season necessitated a new-look side that will run out at Loftus Versfeld.
It is an interesting mix, though, which sees three flyhalves in the backline in the shape of Johan Goosen at fullback, Chris Barend Smit at inside centre and Chris Smith in the No 10 jersey, while David Kriel lines up at left wing after playing at fullback in last week’s 24-17 win over the Pumas in Mbombela.
Veteran Cornal Hendricks comes in at right wing for Sibongile Novuka, who moves to the bench in the final backline change.
‼️Team Announcement‼️
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) June 1, 2023
🐂Vodacom Bulls vs Novavit Griffons
⏰17:05
📍Loftus Versfeld Stadium
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Springbok hard man Elrigh Louw gets a breather this week, and that sees Nizaam Carr shifting to No 8 and Cyle Brink returning at blindside flank, while Marcell Coetzee regains the captaincy as Ruan Nortjé will also put up his feet – with Janko Swanepoel slotting in at No 5 lock.
There are two new faces in the front row as well in the shape of Francois Klopper and Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
“A lot of teams have three flyhalves. If you look at the Stormers, everyone can play flyhalf there as well – and they have been the dominant team in South Africa,” White said on Thursday.
“I’ve said it many times as well: it’s not a case of flyhalves, but guys that can actually play at 10. The more we can interact (in the backline)… The more players you can have who are comfortable with different numbers on their back, the better your attack will be anyway.
“Going forward – and not only this week, but developing our team over the next couple of years – I would love a situation where, once you are in multi-phase, you must be comfortable receiving the ball at first or second receiver and making decisions that needed to be made on attack, in terms of whether you kick or run.
“One of the best Australian sides had Matt Burke, Joe Roff, Chris Latham and Stephen Larkham, who could all play fullback.
“The interesting thing is that when the All Blacks won the World Cup, they had three guys who could play fullback as well in Israel Dagg, Cory Jane and Mils Muliaina.”
Blue Bulls Team
15 Johan Goosen 14 Cornal Hendricks 13 Stedman Gans 12 Chris Barend Smit 11 David Kriel 10 Chris Smith 9 Embrose Papier 8 Nizaam Carr 7 Cyle Brink 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) 5 Janko Swanepoel 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Francois Klopper 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Joe van Zyl 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Mornay Smith 19 Reinhardt Ludwig 20 Mihlali Mosi 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Sibongile Novuka 23 Wandisile Simelane.
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