Bulls playmakers Chris Smith and Johan Goosen will start United’s Rugby Championship match against the Scarlets at Llanelli in Wales on Friday night, with the former at flyhalf and the latter at fullback.
Exciting wing Stravino Jacobs and promising hook Jan-Hendrik Wessels also return in the match-23.
After missing out on the Champions Cup last week, lock Ruan Nortje also returns to lead the side from the second row.
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With so much rugby being played at the moment, the Bulls coaching team decided to give two key backline players, Springboks Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie some time off.
It will be the second time the two sides meet and the Welsh side will be looking to bounce back from yet another league defeat, while the incoming Bulls will be looking to make it two wins from two competitions.
‘execution’
Chris Rossouw, the Bulls’ backline coach, said the combination of Smith and Goosen would allow the team to exploit the second kicking option. He also stressed the importance of confidence in the match.
“Confidence will be important but obviously the execution and clinicalness of the night will be more important,” said Rossouw, who added, “The Scarlets are known as a team that attacks a lot. What we have done in the last two months is to find a balance between the attacking and kicking games, and how to manage that will be important for us and we have to make sure that we are not stuck in the middle of ourselves.
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The match kicks off at 9.35pm on Friday.
Bull: Johan Goosen, David Kriel, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Cyle Brink, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje (capt), Ruan Vermaak, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench: Jan-Hendrick Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Francois Klopper, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Cornal Hendricks, Wandisile Simelane