Vodacom Bulls utility back, Henry Immelman will make his long-awaited debut for the Tshwane-based outfit when they run out in round 2 of the 2023/24 Investec Champions Cup at the Matmut Stadium, southeast of Paris in Lyon. Immelman will run out for the herd at (right) wing when they visit Lyon on Saturday 16 December 2023, at 18h30 [19h30 South African Time].
The match will be broadcast live on SuperSport Rugby.
Henry will partner up with Sergeal Petersen who will be on the left (wing) side of the field with Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe combining as the centre pairing of the day. Vorster returns to full match fitness since being side-lined by a foot niggle two months ago and he starts at inside centre. Behind will be Devon Williams who starts at fullback having consistently impressed since joining the Loftus faithful.
Zak Burger starts at scrum half with Chris Smith lacing up at fly-half as the half-back duo link the backline to a forward pack that will feature Simphiwe Matanzima, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Mornay Smith at front row. Behind them will be lock duo, Deon Slabbert and Janko Swanepoel flanked by Marco van Staden at blindside and Mpilo Gumede on the openside with Marcell Coetzee at eight. Coetzee returns to the starting fifteen to lead Jake White’s chargers in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Speaking ahead of the fixture against the 2022 Challenge Cup winners, White said he was very happy with the way his team got past Saracens as well as the way they dominated the match and now was hoping that the opportunity to step up would be taken with both hands.
“It will be a massive game (against Lyon), away from home in France and I know how difficult it is to win in France but hopefully the group we have with us will understand that it is a great opportunity for us,”
“The last time we were out here, they bashed us physically, add the conditions which when we last played it snowed. Add to that their front row who are between 130-150kgs, so it’s easy for us to say let’s move it around and play fantastic running rugby but sometimes the conditions, opposition and pressure play a massive role,”
“We have a certain style that we like to play and by virtue of playing the kind of calibre opposition that do not let you get away with it, the matches become almost like a test match,”
“There are no second chances in this tournament, we have to make sure and we will have to adapt and find a way that we can get the result.”
Speaking on his team that will line up this weekend, the Vodacom Bulls mentor said: “This is a squad that has the experience with players who have played a lot of rugby together and against some of these big European clubs. I think we can be competitive and there is a lot of experience that I can fall back on.”
On Henry making his club debut, White remarked: “I rate him a lot, I was the one who got him to Montpellier as a 20-year-old and tried really hard to get him to join us the year he joined Edinburgh but luckily enough we got him now as a 28-year-old seasoned pro who can play 13, 14 and 15; so he is going to offer us a lot going forward.”
VODACOM BULLS vs LYON STARTING XV: 1. Simphiwe Matanzima, 2. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 3. Mornay Smith, 4. Deon Slabbert, 5. Janko Swanepoel, 6. Marco van Staden, 7. Mpilo Gumede, 8. Marcell Coetzee (c), 9. Zak Burger, 10. Chris Smith, 11. Sergeal Petersen, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 14. Henry Immelman, 15. Devon Williams
VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Tiaan Lange, 17. Dylan Smith, 18. Khutha Mchunu, 19. JF van Heerden, 20. Merwe Olivier, 21. Bernard van der Linde, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Sebastian de Klerk
MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Gary Gold – Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker – Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Moshe Magethi – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies – Senior Physiotherapist, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Elias Bennett – Team Manager
