Cape Town – Jake White has urged his Blue Bulls team to “catch up some points” in Friday’s Currie Cup clash against the Sharks in Durban (3.30pm kickoff).
The Pretoria side finally ended a 10-match winless run in all competitions with a comprehensive 40-3 victory over Griquas at Loftus Versfeld, but won’t have it so easy against Joey Mongalo’s Sharks at Kings Park.
The Durbanites have won three out of their five matches, and come off a hard-fought 19-12 triumph over defending champions, the Pumas, last week.
White on Thursday named a team mixed with youngsters and experienced players who won’t be part of the URC encounter against Zebre on Saturday.
Springbok No 8 Nizaam Carr will captain a side boasting established figures such as halfbacks Morné Steyn and Zak Burger, centre Lionel Mapoe and left wing Wandisile Simelane, as well as Jacques du Plessis, Janko Swanepoel and Simphiwe Matanzima.
Youngsters who will look to catch the eye include fullback Franco Knoetze, right wing Sibongile Novuka and flank Reinhardt Ludwig.
“In fact, it’s not a very experienced team. We’ve four forwards who are still under-21: Cameron Hanekom, Sebastian Lombard, Reinhardt Ludwig, Jan-Hendrik Wessels,” White said on Thursday.
“It’s a very, very young team, but they got some experience of playing URC, and I am confident. They’ve got a chance now to show whether they can play as a collective unit, and that is the most important thing.
“After the poor start to the Currie Cup, we need to catch up some points and give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs. I don’t think we’ve given ourselves the luxury of making decisions on our own – the decision is almost made for us.”
*Meanwhile, the Bulls also confirmed the signing of England lock Charlie Ewels on Thursday, but White said he won’t feature in the Currie Cup or URC this weekend as they still have to complete some outstanding paperwork.
Blue Bulls Team
15 Franco Knoetze 14 Sibongile Novuka 13 Lionel Mapoe 12 Chris Barend Smit 11 Wandisile Simelane 10 Morné Steyn 9 Zak Burger 8 Nizaam Carr (captain) 7 Reinhardt Ludwig 6 Cameron Hanekom 5 Janko Swanepoel 4 Jacques du Plessis 3 Sebastian Lombard 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange 17 Jacques van Rooyen 18 Robert Hunt 19 Phumzile Maqondwana 20 WJ Steenkamp 21 Bernard van der Linde 22 Cornal Hendricks 23 Kabelo Mokoena.
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