Ken Borland

Wandisile Simelane at centre, wing or fullback? Cornal Hendricks at wing or centre? David Kriel at fullback or centre?

These were the questions Bulls coach Jake White was faced with when he selected his team for their opening United Rugby Championship match against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, and last season’s beaten finalists announced a new-look backline on Friday.

Most interest centred around where Simelane, signed from the Lions during the winter, would fit in, and the talented 24-year-old will debut at fullback. That means an interesting shift to centre for Kriel, who played most of his rugby for the Bulls in the No.15 jersey before White decided he wanted more counter-attacking threat from the back.

“It’s important with the way the game is going and the way I like to coach, for players to be interchangeable,” White said on Friday. “Look at the All Blacks, where Beauden and Jordy Barrett and Richie Mounga run the game in different positions. It’s not about the number on your back.

“Wandisile is a gifted footballer, I believe he was offered a scholarship as a kid by Kaizer Chiefs. He just has that feel for the game, the way he kicks with such good timing.

“And with Lukhanyo Am playing at No.13 for the Springboks and being one of the best in the world, for Wandi to play for the Boks, he needs to be more versatile.

“We swopped the backs around a bit, but they understand each other. We want to change our game a bit and there have been some discussions about what we can add,” White said.

S’bu Nkosi will also make his Bulls debut on the opposite wing to Hendricks, while the other player to pull on the blue jersey for the first time will be eighthman Mihlali Mosi, the 26-year-old who was signed from the Free State Cheetahs.

“Mihlali was a Muir College boy and he also has great feel, great touches, and I was loving his great lines in training. I’m looking forward to him running into some holes on Saturday because he really understands support lines.

“He’s not small either, so he’s also a lineout option at the back, whether catching or lifting. He’s in a pack with a couple of Springboks and hopefully he learns from them and it raises his game,” White said.

The coach said flyhalf Johan Goosen is almost fit to play again, “but we won’t rush things, we want to make sure he is ready, make sure he is mentally comfortable”.

Utility forward Jacques du Plessis, props Simphiwe Matanzima and Lizo Gqoboka, utility back James Verity-Amm and loose forward Muller Uys are the other players with injury concerns.

Bulls: Wandisile Simelane, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel, S’bu Nkosi, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Mihlali Mosi, Ruan Vermaak, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements – Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Dylan Smith, Francois Klopper, Janko Swanepoel, Marco van Staden; Zak Burger, Morne Steyn, Stedman Gans.

Call it belief or blind optimism, but Bulls star Cornal Hendricks is so sure that his team will not be culled from the United Rugby Championship in this weekend’s semi-final against Leinster that he packed enough clothes for two weeks on the road.

If the Bulls do manage to upset favourites Leinster in Dublin on Friday night, then they will either travel to Cape Town to take on the Stormers, or make a short hop from Dublin to Belfast to play Ulster, depending on who wins the other semi-final on Saturday.

But the 34-year-old Hendricks is adamant he ain’t going back to Pretoria next week.

“You can’t have that mindset where you are thinking that you’re going to finish second. I even packed two bags for this trip because, whatever happens, I’m not going back home to Pretoria next week,” Hendricks stated.

“Next week we will either be playing in Cape Town or Ulster, or I will stay here. I have packed my extra undies.

“We honestly have the belief that we can be winners. It’s going to be a tight battle and the team that makes the right decisions on the day will end up winning.

“We are only going to get a few chances and we must take them to win. Leinster have a lot of internationals, but our team has grown so much, we are a different team now,” Hendricks said.

Leinster centres Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose are probably the best centre combination in the competition, but Hendricks rates his partner Harold Vorster very highly and it should be an intriguing midfield clash. The Bulls know they need to be slowing down the Leinster tempo to ensure they don’t run amok in midfield.

“Henshaw and Ringrose are quality players and they have certainly earned respect,” Hendricks said. “But we’ve got Harold Vorster, I have a lot of confidence in him and I’m not worried about facing them.

“We’re looking forward to the battle, we are ready, we’ve done our homework. We expect Leinster to run the ball, but they always have a good balance between kicking and running.

“The fact they scored 12 tries against Glasgow Warriors last weekend indicates the need for us to be physical and to slow down the pace of their game.

“Before that, La Rochelle were very physical against Leinster in the Champions Cup final, they slowed the game down and stopped them getting quick ball at the ruck,” Hendricks said.

A hat-trick of second-half tries by Cornal Hendricks carried the Bulls to a brilliant 38-31 win over the Ospreys in their United Rugby Championship match in Swansea on Friday night, with the determined Welsh side overwhelmed by the physicality and clinical finishing of the visitors.

The Bulls led 12-10 at halftime and were not flattered as they looked in firm control of proceedings, being well-served by their powerful ball-carriers and the presence of Hendricks and Harold Vorster in midfield, until a dreadful blunder by fullback Canan Moodie inside his 22 gifted Ospreys an important try.

But Hendricks then stamped his mark on proceedings in the second half, obliterating the Ospreys backline, which included the highly-rated George North as his opposite number, with several knifing runs. His tries in the 47^th and 66^th minutes were provided by young Moodie, who more than made up for his early mistake by counter-attacking well and showing beautiful judgement when it came to the timing of his passes.

Just three minutes before completing his hat-trick, Hendricks rounded off a prolonged, patient build-up by the Bulls, featuring big carries by outstanding forwards Marcell Coetzee and Gerhard Steenekamp, when he sliced through the line again to score.

Hendricks’ hat-trick meant the job had been done for the Bulls, with a 38-17 lead and the bonus point in the bag, in terms of doing all they could to secure a home quarterfinal.

But Ospreys kept fighting in admirable fashion and were rewarded by two late tries which earned them two bonus points. By doing that, they ensured Scarlets have to beat the Stormers on Saturday to win the Welsh Shield and earn a place in the European Champions Cup.

A team’s fortunes in knockout rugby depend on your ability to convert your opportunities and Bulls coach Jake White will be delighted with how clinical his team were in the first half.

In the first quarter, they were in the Ospreys’ 22 twice and scored on both occasions, through wing Madosh Tambwe and then by flyhalf Chris Smith, who showed sharp footwork and thinking on the tryline.

With the Sharks losing to Ulster, the Bulls rose to third on the log and are in line for a home quarterfinal, providing one of Munster (v Leinster) or the Stormers lose on Saturday.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Canan Moodie, Cornal Hendricks (3). Conversions – Smith (4).

Ospreys: Tries – Jac Morgan, Luke Morgan, Sam Parry, Luke Morgan. Conversions – Gareth Anscombe (4). Penalty – Anscombe.

It’s been awhile since Cornal Hendricks played in midfield for the Bulls but the Springbok will be back there on Saturday night when the Currie Cup champions take on the Cardiff Blues in their United Rugby Championship match at the Arms Park.

The 33-year-old Hendricks was a revelation when coach Jake White moved him from the wing to centre last year upon his arrival at Loftus Versfeld, but he has not played in midfield since the final round-robin game of the Currie Cup, against the Free State Cheetahs on August 28.

And, in a new-look backline that White announced on Friday, Hendricks will be playing outside centre and not in the No.12 jersey where he has previously starred for the Bulls. It’s all to do with the fact that the Bulls are playing for the first time on a 4G pitch, which is a mixture of grass and synthetic turf, and pace will be of the essence.

“The most important thing is how we adapt to the different challenge of the pitch, the pace of the game is going to be very quick, it will challenge both our defence and attack,” White said on Friday.

“I really wanted to play Stedman Gans at 13 with Cornal at 12, but Stedman has a tight hamstring and we couldn’t risk it. That didn’t work out, but fortunately Kurt-Lee Arendse is ready to come back on the wing.

“If Stedman had been fit we could have had almost a Sevens backline with their wonderful feet and stepping. Cornal actually trained a lot at inside centre this week, but Harold Vorster is obviously very accomplished there.

“It’s going to be exciting to see how this backline goes on a nice, hard surface. The surface is so even that you can go flat out and push the tempo big time. Teams can use the pace to outwork teams instead of going through them,” White said.

The veteran coach is delighted to be back at the Cardiff Arms Park and has relished showing his players, some of them on their first British tour, the aluminium plaques, statues and other rugby memorabilia around the Welsh capital. White is expecting a passionate home crowd to make their life even more difficult on Friday night.

“They have smaller crowds over here, but they make the noise of a massive crowd. Plus they have been kept out of watching rugby, so it is still relatively new for them to come and watch games again.

“So there’s going to be a helluva atmosphere, they love rugby in Wales, this is real rugby country. We see the plaques and pictures of rugby legends in the shops, and it’s a wonderful experience for the juniors to be here. And it’s nice for me to show them all the rugby history,” White said.

Bulls team:David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw, Jacques du Plessis, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Jacques van Rooyen, Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench – Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Lizo Gqoboka, Robert Hunt, Walt Steenkamp, Arno Botha, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Lionel Mapoe.