Ken Borland

Victor Matfield moving to the bench and two new starting props were the only changes to the Bulls team coach Frans Ludeke announced on Thursday for their SuperRugby match against the Western Force at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Matfield will be replaced in the number five jersey by Grant Hattingh, while Springboks Marcel van der Merwe and Dean Greyling will be the starting props as Ludeke gives his 37-year-old stalwart something of a break and provides a starting opportunity for the two front-rowers who have had their year disrupted by injury.

“Obviously you can’t rest players and have them on the bench, but it’s more about managing the playing time. We set ourselves some principles, and one of them is not to make too many changes week-for-week,” he explained, “You want to keep the continuity and the rhythm, and that is vital for players.

“But we want to back the squad system as well and we’ve got great props and we back them. Trevor Nyakane and other players will be rotated in the next few weeks,” Ludeke said.

Hattingh may not have Matfield’s experience or genius in running the lineout, but he is tremendously mobile, has a high work-rate and has performed well in the lineout before.

“He was with Victor in the lineout last year and he is one of our anchors. In the end he played almost all the games either at eight or five and in the Currie Cup he was our leading jumper. It’s great to give him his first start this week, he has continually added a lot of energy off the bench this season,” Ludeke said.

The Bulls may not have lost to an Australian side at Loftus since 2007, but it was the Force who beat them then and the side from Perth have traditionally run the Pretoria team close.

Ludeke may also be relying on his bench providing a late boost because there is tremendous quality there in the form of Matfield, the fit-again loose forward Arno Botha and Nyakane.

Pierre Spies, who was named as the captain for the season, will start the Vodacom Bulls’ SuperRugby campaign on the bench but someone with even more experience will be leading the team as they take on the Stormers in a crunch opener at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Victor Matfield, starting in his beloved number five jersey, will captain the Bulls for a competition-record 83^rd time, while also extending his appearance record for the franchise to 139, as he starts a 16^th season of SuperRugby.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said on Wednesday that the decision had been made to ease Spies back into action off the bench, with Arno Botha starting at eighthman, after both Springbok loose forwards were asked how they preferred to manage their comebacks from lengthy injury problems.

“We want the best way for them to come back so we asked them how they felt and we believe the best option is for Pierre to be eased back into action and make a huge impact this weekend in the second half. Starting with Arno is horses-for-courses in a way, there’s no specific reason but Pierre has been out for a while and Arno had no issues in the warm-up games. We believe another week coming off the bench will be the perfect start to the season for Pierre and we’ll take it week-by-week after that,” Ludeke said at the team announcement at Loftus Versveld on Wednesday.

Matfield, who is a strong contender to captain the Springboks at the World Cup if Jean de Villiers does not recover from knee surgery, said for him the appointment was only a temporary one.

“I’m just a stand-in and hopefully Pierre will be ready next week. There’s also Adriaan Strauss who can lead the side, but it’s his first game for the Bulls since 2006, maybe that’s why the coach didn’t pick him, Deon Stegmann did an outstanding job in the warm-ups and in the backs there’s Handre Pollard,” Matfield said.

Hooker Strauss, who played eight games for the Bulls as an U21 star, will start together with fellow Cheetahs imports Trevor Nyakane and Lappies Labuschagne, while the other interesting selections see Piet van Zyl starting at scrumhalf and Francois Hougaard on the left wing. With Pollard as the starting flyhalf there are high hopes the Bulls will sparkle on attack.

“Akona Ndungane and Travis Ismaiel are both not fit and Francois played really well against Saracens on the wing, you can see he enjoys playing there, so that contributed to the decision at scrumhalf. But Piet played especially well in the warm-ups, he makes an impact on front-foot ball and his decision-making was sharp, while Rudy Paige [on the bench] has a good kicking game and game-management skills,” Ludeke explained.

Jacques du Plessis, who will no longer be calling Loftus Versfeld home after this SuperRugby season and is another player who impressed in pre-season, will partner Matfield in the second row, while Jan Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht will be the centres in a combination that has worked very well before.

Perhaps the most crucial selection, however, is that of the experienced Werner Kruger at tighthead prop and he will have plenty of work to do in giving the Bulls a stable foundation at scrum time.

Bulls team: 15-Jurgen Visser, 14-Bjorn Basson, 13-JJ Engelbrecht, 12-Jan Serfontein, 11-Francois Hougaard, 10-Handre Pollard, 9-Piet van Zyl, 8-Arno Botha, 7-Lappies Labuschagne, 6-Deon Stegmann, 5-Victor Matfield, 4-Jacques du Plessis, 3-Werner Kruger, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Trevor Nyakane. Reserves – 16-Callie Visagie, 17-Morne Mellet, 18-Grant Hattingh, 19-Pierre Spies, 20-Rudy Paige, 21-Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22-Jesse Kriel, 23-Dayan van der Westhuizen/Neethling Fouche.

Xerox Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann said on Thursday that his team are likely to face a tremendous onslaught from the Vodacom Blue Bulls pack in their Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday which is why he has chosen a five-two split between forwards and backs on the bench.

Springbok Sevens cap and former Natal Sharks wing Mark Richards could make his Lions debut off the bench, while centre Howard Mnisi, a recent signing from Griquas, is the only other back on the replacements bench.

Ackermann on Thursday named hooker Armand van der Merwe, prop Jacques van Rooyen, lock Martin Muller, utility forward Willie Britz and loose forward Kwagga Smith as the other five substitutes for Saturday’s local derby.

“The Bulls will obviously bring a big onslaught up front and being able to bring on fresh legs will be in our favour. We’ve got a lot of versatile players in the backs – Andries Coetzee can play scrumhalf and between Mark Richards and Kwagga Smith, because of their time as Sevens Springboks, they can cover from scrumhalf to wing.

“So we’ve been able to choose a specialist lock and Willie Britz covers both lock and flank, so it’s a really good mix. It’s going to be very hard at forward, so we’ve gone with five forwards on the bench to bring fresh legs on. We expect a big physical onslaught, we’re ready for it and if the game becomes loose then Willie can do some damage, he’s shown how he can turn games in the second half,” Ackermann said on Thursday.

The Lions coach said he had also decided to hand the captaincy of the team to Derick Minnie, who returns to the starting line-up at eighthman, because last week’s skipper in the victory over the EP Kings, Lionel Mapoe, is too removed from the action on the wing.

“We saw last week Lionel gets caught out wide and can’t get messages to the referee in time, I explained it to him that he’s too far from the action. That’s why so many captains are up front.

“I rely a lot on the captain to set the tone and Derick has done that before. The one with the armband speaks to the referee and to us [the coaching staff], but I want leadership from the players in general, which is why we have unit leaders for the scrums, lineouts and backs,” Ackermann explained.

Minnie has replaced Britz at eighthman, while the other change sees experienced former Bulls hooker Willie Wepener come into the front row in place of Van der Merwe.

Ackermann said he was pleased to welcome Jaco van der Walt back into the flyhalf position.

“I’m pleased to have Jaco back, we saw a lot of potential in him and it’s good to have him back so we can continue our development of him. He’s a specialist flyhalf so hopefully we’ll have more flow, and he’s kicked well in training.

“There are definitely areas and times when you need to relieve the pressure with a kick and Jaco has a long boot. That’s in our favour and will definitely be a factor if things are not going for us,” Ackermann said.

The other change to the Lions team sees Ruan Combrinck moving from fullback to replace Courtnall Skosan on the wing, with Coetzee moving from flyhalf to fullback.

Team: 15-Andries Coetzee, 14-Lionel Mapoe, 13-Stokkies Hanekom, 12-Alwyn Hollenbach, 11-Ruan Combrinck, 10-Jaco van der Walt, 9-Ross Cronje, 8-Derick Minnie, 7-Warwick Tecklenburg, 6-Jaco Kriel, 5-Franco Mostert, 4-MB Lusaseni, 3-Ruan Dreyer, 2-Willie Wepener, 1-Schalk van der Merwe. Bench – 16-Armand van der Merwe, 17-Jacques van Rooyen, 18-Martin Muller, 19-Willie Britz, 20-Kwagga Smith, 21-Mark Richards, 22-Howard Mnisi.