Director of Rugby, Jake White has made five changes to his side that will take on the Glasgow Warriors in round 16 of the 2023/24 Vodacom United Rugby Championship, to be played at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday 11 May 2024. Two of the changes are positional whilst three are personnel changes.
- Nortje returns to match fitness & captains
- Grobbelaar and Van der Merwe switch places
- Eskom starts, Klopper returns to the matchday 23-fold
- White retains the same backline that did duty in round fifteen
The round is dedicated to kids with under 18s eligible for free entry and tickets for adults start at R 50.00c and are available from Ticketpro only.
Akker van der Merwe and Johan Grobbelaar have swapped places with the former slotting into the front row at hooker flanked by Gerhard Steenekamp (loose-head) and Wilco Louw at tight-head. Nortje comes into the second row to pair up with name-sake, Ruan Vermaak at lock which sees Reinhardt Ludwig move to the impact squad, alongside Nizaam Carr who makes way for van Staden at blind-side flank. Elrigh Louw starts at openside once more as does Cameron Hanekom at eight.
Behind the forwards will be the halfback duo Embrose Papier and Chris Smith, with Papier at scrumhalf and Smith at flyhalf. The two will link the forwards with a retained backline from round 15. Kurt-Lee Arendse will run at left wing with Canan Moodie on the right side of the park whilst Harold Vorster and David Kriel are at centre and Willie Le Roux at fullback.
White has gone with a five-three which sees Grobbelaar and Francois Klopper as the other two personnel changes in the matchday 23. Simphiwe Matanzima, Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Jaco van der Valt and Devon Williams complete the 23 men reporting for duty.
Speaking on the return of Nortje and van Staden, White said: “Ruan has grown as a captain; I remember having to answer to the media if he is the right guy for the role, is he not too young? Look how he has grown now! We also have Elrigh (Louw), Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr who have all captained the team and before you know it, this time next year we will have six guys who have captained the side,”
“Just having Marco around, a world cup winner who is a good guy, it’s not just the rugby thing but what he brings off the field, he is popular. Players like to play with the best in the world and having a guy like Marco back who has won a World Cup and he is known for what he offers us, you can see all of a sudden that Elrigh and Cameron Hanekom, who are going to play with him, are enjoying him – he is not a bad addition to your side.”
The Vodacom Bulls mentor says his side is in knockout rugby mode now, with a need to win each remaining game and a possible 3 in the playoffs for the opportunity to win.
“It is knockout rugby now if you look at all the permutations. We probably have just qualified for the top eight with the points that we have but now it is about who beats who and the one thing you have to do is win your games. You cannot get into a situation where its the last week of the competition and you are hoping that someone rolls someone over so that you can sneak into another position,”
“At this point Munster, Leinster, Gasgow or us can finish top. We have seen historically what that means to the teams that have to travel and those teams who are at home. The trick now is to play the best rugby in the next three rounds and make sure that whatever happens in the other games, it has no material effect on us.”
VODACOM BULLS vs GLASGOW WARRIORS STARTING XV: 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Ruan Nortje (c), 6. Marcon van Staden, 7. Elrigh Louw (c), 8. Cameron Hanekom, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Chris Smith, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. David Kriel, 14. Canan Moodie, 15. Willie Le Roux
VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Johan Grobbelaar, 17. Simphiwe Matanzima, 18. Francois Klopper, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Zak Burger, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Devon Williams
MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Werner Kruger – Assistant Coach, Gary Gold – 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 Lammetjies – Physiotherapist, Darryn Berry – Physiotherapist, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed – Sport Scientist, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, Simon Dyidi – Logistics Manager
