Hooker Akker van der Merwe will lead a much-changed Bulls team for their United Rugby Championship match against the the Scarlets at the Parc y Scarlets Stadium in Llanelli, Wales on Friday night.
Director of rugby Jake White has made eight changes to the team that beat Ospreys last weekend.
Springbok Jan-Hendrik Wessels will start at prop alongside skipper Van der Merwe and Wilco Louw in the front row. Ruan Vermaak has a new partner at lock in Cobus Wiese, while flank Nama Xaba comes into a back row also featuring Reinhardt Ludwig and Cameron Hanekom.
Zak Burger gets a start at scrumhalf with flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain. Kurt-Lee Arendse and Sebastian de Klerk are retained on the left and right wings respectively, with Harold Vorster returning to the matchday fold at inside centre.
Gentle reminder of Hanekom's performance last time we played against Scarlets on his @Vodacom #URC debut 🔥![CDATA[]]>👀 pic.twitter.com/i65A0DlK03
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) October 17, 2024
Vorster, who was sidelined by a broken nose, has recovered from his nasal repair and will pair up with Springbok Canan Moodie in the midfield.
Henry Immelman will marshal the troops from fullback.
“They [Scarlets] are the one Welsh team that has beaten us. They did not only beat Cardiff last week, but drew with Benetton also, so they are a difficult team that we take seriously,” White said.
“Every game we play as a franchise is important. It doesn’t matter whether we are playing at home or away. Whenever we wear our club jersey, there is an expectation to win. That doesn’t change whether it’s the second game on tour, we just got to make sure we play as much as we can when we run out onto the field.”
Bulls team for Llanelli
15 Henry Immelman, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Cobus Wiese, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe (c), 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 JF van Heerden, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 21 Chris Barend Smit, 23 Stedman Gans.
@JohnGoliath82