Jake White's Bulls welcome back 2 Boks for Edinburgh

Jake White’s Bulls will welcome back a couple of Springboks for their United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh this weekend.

Canan Moodie and Johan Grobbelaar return from Bok duty to bolster the squad for the clash, with Moodie starting at fullback and Grobbelaar named among the substitutes in a five-three split impact squad.

Akker van der Merwe will captain the Bulls, starting alongside URC debutant Alulutho Tshakweni and Wilco Louw in the front row. Cobus Wiese and Ruan Vermaak form the lock pairing, with Kuyenzeka Xaba and Jannes Kirsten flanking either side of Cameron Hanekom at No. 8.

In the backline, Embrose Papier starts at scrumhalf with Jaco van der Walt at flyhalf. Sebastian de Klerk takes the left wing, while Chris Barend Smit and Stedman Gans form the centre partnership. David Kriel rounds out the back three with Moodie.

The replacements include the aforementioned Grobbelaar as well as Simphiwe Matanzima, Francois Klopper, JF van Heerden, Coetzee, Keagan Johannes, Boeta Chamberlain, and Aphiwe Dyantyi.

“I am really happy that we have a lot of Vodacom Bulls guys playing for the Springboks and it is nice to have Canan and Grobbies back because they have international experience, and they can bring that back to us and the more players we can have with international experience and the kind of pressure they have experienced at that level will help us in our environment” comments White on the return of the Springbok duo.

“It is quite nice to have Jaco [van der Walt] available for us against Edinburgh, a club where he was and will know a lot of their players. He is an international player, which is why we signed him and Boeta [Chamberlain] so that a guy like [Johan] Goosen does not have to play 80 minutes each week.”

“David [Kriel] was at fullback before I moved him to centre and a guy like Barend Smit had a brilliant Currie Cup so he deserves a start which gives me flexibility with the backs that we have,”

“The back three is important for us this weekend and how we want to play with the specific skillset that they have. Then you have a guy like Aphiwe on the bench which gives you the confidence going into the match.”

BULLS vs EDINBURGH RUGBY: 1. Alulutho Tshakweni, 2. Akker van der Merwe (c), 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Cobus Wiese, 6. Nama Xaba, 7. Jannes Kirsten, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Jaco van der Walt, 11. Sebastian de Klerk, 12. Chris Barend Smit, 13. Stedman Gans, 14. Canan Moodie, 15. David Kriel

BULLS REPLACEMENTS: 16. Johan Grobbelaar, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Francois Klopper, 19. JF van Heerden, 20. Marcell Coetzee, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Boeta Chamberlain, 23. Aphiwe Dyantyi

MANAGEMENT: Jake White - Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw - Assistant Coach, Werner Kruger - Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker - Assistant Coach, Jean Tiedt - Assistant Coach, Kennedy Tsimba - Assistant Coach, Phiwe Nomlomo - Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer - Technical Analyst, Dr. Herman Rossouw - Team Doctor, Lance Lammetjies & Darryn Berry - Physiotherapists, Andre Volsteedt - Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed - Sport Scientist, Elias Bennett - Team Manager, Simon Dyidi - Logistics Manager