Former Stormer Marvin Orie has been named in the Bulls team for their Currie Cup opener against Western Province in Cape Town on Saturday, while tough loose forward Jeandré Rudolph, formerly of the Cheetahs and Pumas, is set to make his debut.
Another Cape product, Nama Xaba, will captain the Bulls. He joins Rudolph and fellow Capetonian Junior Pokomela in a powerful loose trio.
An away visit to their arch-rivals is as tough as it gets for the Bulls, but assistant coach Phiwe Nomlomo says his charges are up for the challenge.
“The players have trained well,” said Nomlomo. “There’s full-on excitement at the minute. There’s a really great vibe in the team, but there will be nerves. I’m not really a nervous guy. I’ll embrace what comes, when it comes.”
Nomlomo dismissed the relevance of Province finishing seventh last season, with just three wins from their 10 matches.
“We think there’ll be a fair bit of a crowd, to be honest, so they’ll have good support. They’ll be full of grit and they’ve got a good mixture. They’ve got U21s, club players, varsity players – so I think they’ll be full of good energy. We have to be well prepared for that.”
The Bulls squad includes six world champion Junior Boks – hooker Esethu Mnebelele, prop Jean Erasmus, locks Jacobus Grobbelaar and JJ Theron, centre Demitre Erasmus, and winger Cheswill Jooste – along with a further 10 players under the age of 21.
Springbok lock Orie and seasoned prop Lizo Gqoboka bring valuable experience to the side. Loose forward Nizaam Carr and winger Aphiwe Dyantyi are currently sidelined with injury.
Bulls Starting XV: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Katlego Letebele, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Chris Barend Smit, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Dylan Smith. Replacements: 16 Shaun Schurmann, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Jean Erasmus, 19 Jaco Grobbelaar, 20 Dylan de Leeuw, 21 Steven Nel, 22 PA van Niekerk, 23 Marco Ferreira.
