‘There is no score to settle, no revenge over them but a desire for us to win this quarterfinal and hopefully the semi-final and make our way to the final,” says Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White as his side prepares for the quarterfinal battle against Scottish side, Edinburgh Rugby on Saturday 31 May.
- Papier returns to action
- Minor positional changes made
- Early 13h30 kick-off set for the QF clash
- Johannes stays at flyhalf, Coetzee starts at loose forward
The seasoned mentor adds: “Quarterfinals are always the games you look forward to. These are the games you want to be involved in and not miss out. We lost to them a couple of weeks ago and that is probably a blessing for us because that should be lessons for us to be better in this outing,”
“The tournament has now become a three-game competition. You win all three games and you achieve your objective, which is winning the title” White concludes.
White has made minor tweaks to his outfit, bringing Johan Grobbelaar – from the bench – into the front row at hooker, alongside fellow Springboks and props Jan-hendrik Wessels and Wilco Louw. Behind the front rowers are locks Cobus Wiese and JF van Heerden with Marcell Coetzee partnering with his skipper, Ruan Nortje at loose-forward. Cameron Hanekom slots into the role of eighth man.
At halfback, Embrose Papier makes his return to play at scrumhalf, pairing up with flayhalf, Keagan Johannes. Behind them, Sebastian de Klerk and Canan Moodie will run out on the wings, whilst Harold Vorster and David Kriel combine at centre and El Maestro, Willie le Roux running business from fullback.
The impact squad features an ensemble of forwards in Akker van der Merwe, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Jannes Kirsten and Marco van Staden. Backs Zak Burger, Stedman Gans and Devon Williams all complete the five-three split stand-by roster.
The South Africans will welcome their Scotland counterparts to Loftus Versfeld Stadium at 13h30 local time, tickets for this final eight bout of the 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship are available for as little as R 50.00c from TicketPro
VODACOM BULLS vs EDINBURGH RUGBY STARTING XV: 1. Jan-hendrik Wessels, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Cobus Wiese, 5. JF van Heerden, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 7. Ruan Nortje (c), 8. Cameron Hanekom, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Keagan Johannes, 11. Sebastian de Klerk, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. David Kriel, 14. Canan Moodie, 15. Willie le Roux
IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Akker van der Merwe, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Jannes Kirsten, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Zak Burger, 22. Stedman Gans, 23. Devon Williams
MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Werner Kruger – Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker – Assistant Coach, Jean Tiedt – Assistant Coach, Kennedy Tsimba – Assistant Coach, Phiwe Nomlomo – Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Herman Rossouw – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies & Darryn Berry – Physiotherapists, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed – Sport Scientist, Dr. Eugene Hare – Team Manager, Simon Dyidi – Logistics Manager
