The Vodacom Bulls are without two of their best early-season performers for Saturday’s URC match against Leinster at Loftus Versfeld.
Springbok centre Jan Serfontein and winger Cheswill Jooste suffered shoulder and hamstring injuries respectively during the opening-round win against the Ospreys.
Serfontein’s place is taken by the experienced Harold Vorster while Sebastian de Klerk shifts to right wing to accommodate Stravino Jacobs on the left.
ALSO: Injury-hit Leinster brace for ‘vengeful’ Bulls
Following Cobus Wiese’s HIA last weekend, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, who filled in with aplomb, starts this Saturday with Sintu Manjezi earning a place on the bench.
Coach Johan Ackermann expects Leinster to deliver a very different performance at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, despite their 35-0 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town, dismissing last week’s result as a marker.
“Credit to the Stormers, they played well, but that was probably a Leinster performance we won’t see again,” Ackermann said. “They’ll want to rectify it, and we expect a lot more pressure.”
“It wasn’t good to concede that many points against Ospreys. Some tries were soft and Leinster will punish us if we repeat that. We can’t afford to start slowly and play how we did last week. Jacques Nienaber’s setup from a defensive point of view seldom give a team as many opportunities as they did against the Stormers. That’s why we aren’t taking anything from that loss and focusing on improving ourselves.”
BULLS – 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 N Janse van Rensburg, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Juann Else, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Willie le Roux.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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