Bulls coach Frans Ludeke will need to perform a fine balancing act between maintaining his team’s winning run and giving players in his squad a fair opportunity to stake their claim in the starting team.
After a week’s break where the Bulls were not involved in Super Rugby action and enjoying their first bye of the competition, Ludeke would have been seriously contemplating the personnel for his starting team to face the Western Force at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
There are notable returnees from injury, namely Springbok loose forward Arno Botha and flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who Ludeke will have to consider for selection, while the absence of former Springbok wing Akona Ndungane and hooker Callie Visagie will be of some concern to Ludeke.
Ndungane has been ruled out of action for a month after breaking his hand a week ago in a Vodacom Cup match between the Blue Bulls and the Valke, while Visagie is struggling with a chest injury.
The Bulls will have some of their plans hampered with Ndungane’s injury as Ludeke had planned on using the veteran wing as another option at fullback and so too the injury to Visagie will leave the Bulls with no choice but to call on Jaco Visagie from Varsity Cup duty from the University of Pretoria to sit on the bench for Saturday’s encounter.
As much as Ludeke will feel that his resources are running thin at hooker with Springbok Bandise Maku having been ruled out for the entire season, the Bulls brains’ trust will find it difficult to change a winning team for the sake of rotation.
There will also be pressure on Ludeke to consider the standing agreement between the South African Rugby Union and all Super Rugby franchises to manage their Springboks accordingly. The Bulls may have received some sort of reprieve from the agreement with their bye coming in the fifth week of the competition, which was the standard agreed playing time in consecutive rounds, but will have to find time in the next seven weeks to rest their Springboks.
The Bulls will need to make some changes in their frontrow with props Trevor Nyakane and Marcel van der Merwe, and hooker Adriaan Strauss all set to be rested soon and so too in the second row, where veteran lock Victor Matfield will have to sit out a game or two. Ludeke could be forced to play musical chairs with his frontrow sooner rather than later, while Matfield will have to sit out this weekend’s game or next weekend against the Crusaders with Grant Hattingh set to pack down next to Jacques du Plessis.
The biggest headache for Ludeke will be among the loose forwards where he will be under pressure to give Botha more playing opportunity after he put in two strong showings in the Vodacom Cup in the past two weeks. With Botha having had limited game time in the past two seasons due to injury, Ludeke will also feel pressure from Springbok management to play Botha, but the question that will be on his mind will be: which of his in-form loose forwards is he going to replace?
Bulls captain Pierre Spies is showing glimpses of the form that made him one of the best number eights in the country, while Lappies Labuschagne and Deon Stegmann have formed a lethal combination on the flanks.
Ludeke also faced another selection poser with Potgieter’s return and that is: when to rest Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard and centre Jan Serfontein?
Potgieter did not train with his teammates yesterday, but the Bulls assured that Potgieter should be fit for selection after sitting out the past three weeks with a thigh strain.
Having started the season on the back of two losses, Ludeke will be reluctant to make any changes to a team that won their past two matches against the Sharks and Cheetahs and are just one place out of the play-off zone with their game in hand. - Pretoria News