The Bulls team to face the Sharks at Loftus on Saturday has been announced with Springbok flanker Dewald Potgieter returning to the side of the scrum.
A backline filled with 4 Springboks and the talented Jano Vermaak will take on the Sharks, led by Louis Fouché at flyhalf.
Juandré Kruger also returns from injury to bolster the second row and add some grunt to the tight five. The team will be captained by Gary Botha from hooker.
Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Zane Kirchner, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Justin Dinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 21 Francois Venter.
ouch. Strong team
Sharks need to seriously step it up this week. A repeat of last week`s performance and we`re gonna get stuffed.
Sharks need to pitch up to this game, we need to dominate them… We all know we can, we know we should – come on boys – impress us!
Seems Jacques Potgieter did not make the cut for this game?
Go Bulls!!
Only 21 players?
@wpw (Comment 5) :
What a game what a game….
Sharks by 25
Dustin Jinka should number 20, Brummer 21 and Venter 22. That’s how it is on the official Blue Bulls website.
As long as Meisiekind is at 12 we have very little to fear from that backline.
@war1 (Comment 9) : Same here… The last 2 are 21.
@Ben (Comment 11) : It is being edited, I think. Jinka has been added from the original. I think the official website had skipped Jinka at first, we are not the only site that did not have him in there.
@war1 (Comment 12) : I see..
No 6: Warwick Tacklingbag???
@Franshark (Comment 8) : Is that the missed tackle count?
Would love to see this side vs the Bulls.
15 Ludick/Prinsloo
14 Sithole
13 Adi/Lindeque
12 Bosman
11 Mvovo
10 Fred
9 Mcleod (needs a big game)/Hoffman
8 Coetzee
7 Deysel/Botes
6 Daniel c
5 Hargreaves
4 Bresler/Marais
3 Van Staden/Herbst
2 Burden/Cooper
1 Chadwick.
How Charl Mcleod ever made it above Janno Vermaak in the Springbok pecking order is beyond me…
@CapeShark (Comment 17) : Simple really, Charl was at the sharks, Jano was at the Lions.
keegan was comprehensively outplayed by derrick minnie last saturday, let’s see if he can redeem himself against a rookie like Warwick Tecklenburg
@John Galt (Comment 16) : One thing we have learned over many matches with the Bulls, a back three with Daniel, Botes and anyone else is just not going to cut it against the Bulls. If Botes is to come on, he has to replace Daniel, so that we can keep the two large loosies on the pitch with the Bulls.
@vanmartin (Comment 10) : Kirchner/Olivier vs Joubert/Terblanche! Should be a really exciting matchup
@Greg (Comment 21) : I foresee a lot of passes skipping the centres!
@Dancing Bear (Comment 22) : hey! That was quick
@Greg (Comment 21) : meisiekind & zane to smoke the old farts
@robdylan (Comment 23) : Spending some time at work now. Still have a tree on my house, well, maybe by now they will have started to remove it today. Power is out, power company had to drop the powerline since the tree was on it, and the line was live. Coming along slowly.
We need to beat this Bull’s team… It will be tough for us mentally coming off back two back losses…
@Dancing Bear (Comment 25) : did you see the message we posted for you?
I would go with this combination.
15 Terblanche
14 Sithole
13 Ludick
12 Adi
11 Mvovo
10 Michalak
9 Mcleod
8 Keegan
7 Deysel
6 Botes
5 Hargreaves
4 Bresler
3 Van Staden
2 Burden
1 Chadwick
If Ludick can play on the wing he`s worth the risk at 13 and we desperately need to shake something up in mid-field.
@robdylan (Comment 27) : Rob, just saw it, wow, thank you so much……to all my Sharksworld family.
@Original Pierre (Comment 28) : I agree, we need to shake up the Centres, and Ludik has played wing for the Lions a fair bit in the past. However, what I would like to see is Adi to get a chance to start a string of matches outside Bosman, and see if they can gel. I think Bosman’s problem is not that he is running away from support (I would argue that is not possible, since a ball carrier should look for space and make as many metres as possible, with the onus being on the support runners to be there to support him), but rather that Stef and the loosies are not on his shoulders looking to take the pop pass after his break. Adi runs superb lines and in my opinion, also runs superb support lines and would be there to support Bosman more than Stef has been. Hence why I would like to see a Bosman/Adi combination.
I don’t like the idea of starting Adi at 12 the first start he gets in a long time, while he can play 12, it is not his best position (13). I would like to see him given the opportunity to make the 13 jersey his once again.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 30) : You’d think giving Adi an extended run outside Meyer Bosman would be a no-brainer, but alas, for reasons unfathomable it is about as unlikely to happen as me buying a Beyonce cd. Which is never. Never ever. Not even at gunpoint. Or bazookapoint. Or intercontinental ballistic missilepoint. I think I’ve made my point.
@Culling Song (Comment 31) : A Beyonce CD? Is that some kind of documentary CD?
I’d like to see
15 Van Tonder/Ludik/Prinsloo
14 Sithole/Vulindlu
13 Jacobs/Vulindlu
12 Mnisi/Bosman
11 Mvovo
10 Michalak
9. McCleod
8. Coetzee/Mtembu
7. Deysel/Odjiambo
6. Daniels
5. Skeate/Hagreaves
4. Bresler
3. Herbst/Van Staden
2. Burden/Cooper
1. Nhlapo/Chadwick