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Ken Borland



Injury curse muddying the selection waters for Blue Bulls 0

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Ken

 

The injury curse is muddying the selection waters for Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais, with Ulrich Beyers returning from action in France and Italy in a reshuffled backline announced on Wednesday for Saturday’s Currie Cup clash against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

Wing Jade Stiglingh’s excellent debut against Western Province last weekend was spoilt by an ankle injury that has put him out of action for six weeks, with the experienced Bjorn Basson shifting from fullback to replace the 23-year-old on the wing, where the Springbok has played most of his rugby.

That has forced Marais to turn to Beyers, a former Bulls player who left in 2014 to play for Bordeaux in France and Zebre in Italy.

Outside centre Dries Swanepoel has also strained a quad muscle in his thigh and will be replaced by Dan Kriel.

“Ulrich was here on a two-week trial because we were worried about fullback and centre cover if we got another injury. We are now in negotiations with him to lengthen his stay. Those will hopefully be completed in the next week,” high performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg said.

“Dan Kriel has not had many opportunities, we thought he would be able to play against the Waratahs but then we lost against the Brumbies and couldn’t afford to rest guys. He’s practising well at the moment and now he gets the chance to show why he’s at the Bulls and where he is going. Guys like Franco Naude also want to play, so Dan must show what he can do this weekend and it will be a good challenge for him against Francois Venter,” Marais said.

The return of lock RG Snyman, one of the stars of the SuperRugby campaign, is the main feature of the new-look bench that the Blue Bulls will take to Bloemfontein.

The starting second row of Jason Jenkins and Marvin Orie were outstanding against Western Province and the presence of Snyman will just increase the physicality and ball-carrying ability of the Bulls.

Edgar Marutlulle, the former Lions and Southern Kings hooker, is in line to make his first appearance in the light blue jersey, while Martin Dreyer, the well-travelled former Hoerskool Wonderboom prop, replaces Nxoba Mxoli, who has a chest injury.

Joshua Stander is the reserve flyhalf for this weekend, replacing Tony Jantjies, while the highly-rated Duncan Matthews is the other new face on the bench.

Team: Ulrich Beyers, Bjorn Basson, Dan Kriel, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Tian Schoeman, Piet van Zyl, Arno Botha (c), Jannes Kirsten, Ruan Steenkamp, Marvin Orie, Jason Jenkins, Entienne Swanepoel, Jaco Visagie, Pierre Schoeman. Bench – Edgar Marutlulle, Martin Dreyer, RG Snyman, Hanro Liebenberg, Andre Warner, Joshua Stander, Duncan Matthews.

 

Beyers has amnesty after one game 0

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Ken

Fullback Ulrich Beyers has received amnesty after just one game for his undisclosed disciplinary offence and been included in the Vodacom Blue Bulls starting XV for their Absa Currie Cup match against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Beyers is one of six changes to the Bulls’ starting line-up after their 26-15 defeat by the Sharks last weekend, replacing young prospect Jesse Kriel in the No 15 jersey.

“Ulrich was withdrawn from the match against the Sharks for personal reasons, it was an off-field matter and we’re happy with the way the disciplinary hearing went,” Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said on Tuesday, without revealing any further details, although there have been suggestions the misdemeanour was alcohol-related.

The return of Beyers is one of four changes to the backline, with the Bulls welcoming back Springboks Akona Ndungane, JJ Engelbrecht and Piet van Zyl.

Engelbrecht’s campaign to get back into international rugby begins in earnest on Friday and the 25-year-old will fill the number 13 jersey left vacant by William Small-Smith’s knee injury suffered against the Sharks last weekend. With the outside centre position in the Springbok team the subject of much debate, Engelbrecht will be eager to finish the year strongly.

The Port Elizabeth-born Engelbrecht played the last of his 12 Tests in November against Scotland at Murrayfield and the time for him to impress is short, with the Bulls struggling to make the Currie Cup playoffs.

The Cheetahs are the team immediately above the Bulls on the log, five points ahead in fifth place, so the importance of victory for Frans Ludeke’s team in their third-last round-robin game is clear. And the coach has responded to the urgency by making six changes to his starting line-up, four of them in the backline.

Apart from Engelbrecht’s return, long-serving star Ndungane replaces fellow Springbok Bjorn Basson, who is yet to regain his spark after a long injury layoff, on the wing, Beyers is back at fullback in place of Kriel after being dropped for the Sharks game for disciplinary reasons, and Van Zyl will be the starting scrumhalf, rotating with Rudy Paige.

There are just two changes up front with captain Deon Stegmann returning in the number six jersey after serving a one-match suspension for elbowing an EP Kings player, and Bongi Mbonambi rotating with Callie Visagie at hooker.

Although flank Jacques du Plessis did not train on Monday due to a badly-bruised thigh, he will be fit for the Bloemfontein trip.

Ludeke said his team are still in the running for the knockout stages of the Currie Cup in October, but they need perfect execution of their game-plan from here on in.

“We’re still in the running, but talking about it doesn’t help, we have to come out and perform. Exerting pressure will be vital, it’s knockout rugby for both teams, and ball-control will be vital for us, we have to be clinical and play in the right areas.

“A bunch of things work for us – like our shift to being more dangerous from broken play, the driving maul from the lineout – we just need to get it all to come together this weekend. We need to get the crucial decisions right in this game,” Ludeke said on Tuesday.

Team: 15-Ulrich Beyers, 14-Akona Ndungane, 13-JJ Engelbrecht, 12-Burger Odendaal, 11-Sampie Mastriet, 10-Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9-Piet van Zyl, 8-Jono Ross, 7-Jacques du Plessis, 6-Deon Stegmann, 5-Grant Hattingh, 4-Paul Willemse, 3-Werner Kruger, 2-Bongi Mbonambi, 1-Dean Greyling. Reserves – 16-Callie Visagie, 17-Morne Mellet, 18-Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19-Wiaan Liebenberg, 20-Rudy Paige, 21-Tian Schoeman, 22-Jesse Kriel.

 

Full report – http://citizen.co.za/247061/bulls-beyers-off-the-hook/

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