Three changes for Bulls

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 19: Frans Ludeke (Coach of the Bulls) during the Vodacom Bulls training session and press conference at Loftus Versfeld on March 19, 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 19: Frans Ludeke (Coach of the Bulls) during the Vodacom Bulls training session and press conference at Loftus Versfeld on March 19, 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

Published Mar 19, 2015

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Pretoria – Well-rested and at the top of the their game, the Bulls will take on the visiting Western Force with only three changes to the run-on side for their Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke rotated his front-rowers with Dean Greyling and Marcel van der Merwe replacing Trevor Nyakane and Morne Mellett, who will be shifting to the bench.

In the only other change to the staring XV, Bulls stalwart Victor Matfield will join them on the bench with Grant Hattingh receiving a starting berth in his place.

“It is more managing the playing time and to set ourselves up, we've got great props,” Ludeke said at the team announcement in Pretoria on Thursday.

“With Victor, he (Hattingh) was one of the anchor men last season in the lineouts and in the end he played all the games either at eight or at five.

“In the Currie Cup he was our leading lineout jumper, so it is great to give him his first start.”

The Bulls could call on a strong replacement bench with Arno Botha returning from injury with Hanro Liebenberg moving out of the team altogether, while Jaco Visagie will be in line for his Super Rugby debut as replacement to Callie Visagie.

While the Bulls made a slow start to their campaign with two consecutive defeats before they racked up two victories before their first bye of the season.

Ludeke said he had been impressed by the way his charges turned their fortunes around after the home defeats at the start of the competition.

“The impressive thing was the way the players changed and their accuracy suddenly changed, then the belief came, and with that the momentum came as well,” Ludeke said.

“We would like to continue with what made us a dangerous side before the break, getting into the right areas, converting that opportunity, accuracy on defence and squeezing opportunities and hopefully winning that field position battle.”

The Bulls will face a Force side that have managed only one victory from their first five matches but the sides have won four matches each in their eight encounters.

“The Force cannot be underestimated, given the closeness of results between the teams in the past,” said Bulls captain Pierre Spies.

“We always seem to be in tight matches against each other. The trick for us will be to play the big moments better and to execute whenever we create scoring opportunities.”

Spies said the week's break had left the side recharged and came at exactly the right time.

“We were quite lucky with our draw, I think it came at the right time for us, the week was very good and the guys came back energised,” Spies said.

“We have seven weeks on the trot before we get our next break but last week was very good for us.”

Bulls team: Jesse Kriel, Bjorn Basson, JJ Engelbrecht, Jan Serfontein, Francois Hougaard, Handre Pollard, Rudy Paige, Pierre Spies (captain), Lappies Labuschagne, Deon Stegmann, Grant Hattingh, Jacques du Plessis, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Dean Greyling.

Replacements: Jaco Visagie, Morne Mellett, Trevor Nyakane, Victor Matfield, Arno Botha,Tian Schoeman, Piet van Zyl, Jurgen Visser.– Sapa

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