The Vodacom Bulls have been given a timely boost with the return to the starting XV of Springboks Cameron Hanekom, Marcell Coetzee and Willie le Roux. Hanekom missed out on the round 16 match in Scotland, whilst Coetzee and le Roux came off the bench.
- Springboks return to start
- Zak Burger starts at scrumhalf
- White opts for five-three split impact squad
Zak Burger and Alulutho Tshakweni are the only other players who did not feature in the previous round of the league who are in the starting and impact squad, respectively, as the herd welcomes Welsh outfit Cardiff Rugby in round 17 of the 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship. The two sides meet at 16h00 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, with tickets available for as little as R 50.00c from TicketPro
Ruan Nortje and his troops have dedicated the match to all moms, giving the special women in their lives and community free entry to the game. Moms are encouraged to collect their free tickets from the stadium ticket office until Friday, 09 May COB, and from the stadium entry points on matchday.
On the field, Coetzee and Hanekom are the only changes made by director of rugby, Jake White, to the forward pack that did duty against Glasgow a fortnight ago. At the back, Burger and El Maetsro are the only other two changes to the starting XV, slotting in at scrumhalf and full back, respectively.
Jannes Kirsten, Marco van Staden and Devon Williams move from the starting lineup to the standby ensemble that also features Akker van der Merwe, Mornay Smith, Keagan Johannes and Stedman Gans. The only new face on the duty list on the bench is Tshakweni.
VODACOM BULLS vs CARDIFF 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. Zak Burger, 10. Johan Goosen, 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. Alulutho Tshakweni, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Jannes Kirsten, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Devon Williams, 23. Stedman Gans
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
