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Bulls face wave of criticism after making 13 changes for European QF
By Josh Raisey
Bulls director of rugby Jake White gave plenty of warning that changes were in the offing for their Investec Champions Cup quarter-final against Northampton Saints on Saturday, but the team he has named has nevertheless proven to be controversial.
"Disgrace," "piss take," "absolutely pathetic," "embarrassing" and a "mockery of the tournament," are just some of the descriptions of the team that will run out at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday, with 13 changes from the side that bulldozed Lyon last week at Loftus Versfeld.
Lock JF van Heerden and winger Sebastian de Klerk are the only two survivors from the 59-19 win in Pretoria last Saturday, with Springboks stars like Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Elrigh Louw all granted the weekend off.
But with the Bulls fighting on two fronts this season, sitting in third place in the United Rugby Championship, rotation was inevitable. Not only that, but they are in the midst of a wild schedule which saw them face URC leaders Leinster two weeks ago in Dublin, Lyon last week and reigning URC champions Munster next week.
After a hellish week travelling to Northampton after only having the fixture confirmed last Sunday, White has had to concede that this is the game where players are rested.
It may make sense in the context of the season and the Bulls' pursuit of the URC title, but this is a team-naming that has not gone down well. Then again, plenty are pointing out that this is a squad that should not be written off.
Bulls XV
1 Simphiwe Matanzima
2 Akker van der Merwe
3 Mornay Smith
4 Janko Swanepoel
5 Jacob Frederick Nel Van Heerden
6 Nizaam Carr
7 Celimpilo Gumede
8 Cameron Hanekom
9 Zak Burger
10 Chris William Smith
11 Stravino Jacobs
12 Harold Vorster
13 Henry Immelman
14 Sebastian de Klerk
15 Devon Williams
Substitutes
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
17 Dylan Smith
18 Francois Klopper
19 Merwe Olivier
20 Reinhardt Ludwig
21 Keagan Johannes
22 Jaco van der Walt
23 Cornal Hendricks
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Latest Comments
Yeah they're away of it too. It was brought up in one of the Italian focused articles. They are performing now and trying to move out of that 'being in awe' type attitude.
Very easy to say we're good enough to put all our focus on wining this last big game of the year (this one) though, you also need to be consistent and still perform in the other games (slip up against Georgia) and not get ahead of yourself. Not think you're too good for teams like Argentina and Georgia just because theres a shift in attitude towards thinking 'were good enough to beat anybody now'. Hope they go forward from here but I think this performance is still only good enough to keep them off wooden spoon 6N position (keep them well away from the bottom mind you).
Go to commentsYeah I predicted (out of thin air) it to be more like 30 points between them. You don't think it wasn't more like that because they picked jaded players?
Will have a look at the game now I guess.
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