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Jake shuffles Bulls pack
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Yesterday at 05:36 AM
Jake White makes five personnel changes and two positional switches to the Vodacom Bulls starting XV to face the Lions in Saturday's rescheduled Vodacom URC round 9 clash at Loftus.
Up front, loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp joins fellow Springboks Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw in the front row as the Bulls look to bounce back from last week's defeat by the Sharks in Pretoria.
In the second row, a fit-again Cobus Wiese returns and slots in alongside JF van Heerden while No 8 Mpilo Gumede trades places with Nizaam Carr in a rejigged loose trio with Marco van Staden and skipper Reinhardt Ludwig.
At the back, Canan Moodie shifts to the left wing and Sebastian de Klerk comes on the right. They will flank the new-look midfield combination of David Kriel and Stedman Gans.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Jukskei derby edition
Director of rugby, White has gone with a five-three split on the bench that features Carr, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Francois Klopper, Ruan Vermaak, Sergeal Petersen, Zak Burger, Alulutho Tshakweni and Keagan Johannes.
The Bulls on Saturday can make it back-to-back Jukskei derby wins this season after a comfortable win at Ellis Park last month.
A victory at Loftus will see the Herd take top spot on the SA Shield log, as well as establish a cushion between themselves and the fourth-placed Sharks on the overall URC table. The Bulls are in third place with 35 points, one ahead of the Sharks.
White's men would also be keen to close the gap on the second-placed Glasgow Warriors (42 points) to stay within striking distance of finishing the league stages in the top two. Leinster are currently in first place with 52 points after 11 wins from as many games.
BULLS – 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 David Kriel, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (c), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Sergeal Petersen.
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
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