Pretoria – On his return as captain of the Bulls, Pierre Spies says they will be looking to make amends for last week's defeat when they take on the Hurricanes at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
“We had a hard look at ourselves, and the guys are really working hard to get the result and produce a more consistent performance,” Spies said in Pretoria on Tuesday.
“We've got to take care of our ball, be disciplined in our approach and be clinical as we made way too many mistakes against the Stormers.”
Spies returns to the starting line-up, taking over the captaincy from Victor Matfield and replacing the injured Arno Botha at eighthman with Hanro Liebenberg supplying cover off the bench. Spies's return after a year-long absence was one of four changes to the team which went down 29-17 against the Stormers last Saturday.
An injury to regular tighthead prop Werner Kruger sees Trevor Nyakane shift from loosehead to the other side of the scrum while Morne Mellett dons the number-one jersey.
While the Light Blues had a recognised tighthead in 20-year-old Dayan van der Westhuizen on the bench, Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said he had confidence in Nyakane to make the shift without any hiccups.
“I think it has been tested and proven that Nyakane can play there. He showed it last year in Super Rugby, and the year before when he came on in Test rugby in that position,” Ludeke said.
“With Dayan, it is about giving him the right opportunity and blooding him. He is a quality player and that is our best combination for the weekend.”
Ludeke said they had not been happy with their performance in the scrums last weekend where they were schooled by the Stormers' pack of forwards.
“It wasn't good enough, and there was a lot pressure from that battle where we were on the back foot,” he said.
“We gave away penalties that gave them field position and easy exits and we lost two vital turnovers at the base of the scrum in the right areas.
“That wasn't up to our standards, and we would like to improve this weekend.”
The only change to the backline would see Jesse Kriel replacing Jurgen Visser at fullback with the latter moving to the bench for Friday's clash.
Bulls team: Jesse Kriel, Bjorn Basson, JJ Engelbrecht, Jan Serfontein, Francois Hougaard, Handre Pollard, Piet van Zyl, Pierre Spies (captain), Lappies Labuschagne, Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield, Jacques du Plessis, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss, Morne Mellett. Replacements: Callie Visagie, Dean Greyling, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Grant Hattingh, Hanro Liebenberg, Rudy Paige, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Jurgen Visser. – Sapa