CAPE TOWN - New signing Madosh Tambwe has been brought straight into the Bulls starting line-up by coach Jake White for Sunday’s Preparation Series clash against Eastern Province at Loftus Versfeld (3pm kickoff).
Former Sharks star Tambwe had fallen out of favour in Durban after the arrival of Yaw Penxe from the Southern Kings, and now the 23-year-old will hope to make his mark in the capital city.
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“I must say, I am quite impressed with him. He is obviously incredibly quick. He played fullback at Parktown Boys’ High, and I was at Jeppe, so I know a lot about Parktown Boys’ High – I know when he played, I know the coaches who coached him,” White said during a team announcement press conference on Friday.
“I’m looking forward to working with him. I think he has got something – incredible season when he first started for the Sharks, and he scored an incredible amount of tries. So, the way we play, if we get a guy like him that can finish the way that he does, and use the pace he’s got, hopefully we can add him to the team we have already.
“The quicker he plays, I want to give him as many games as I can to get him used to the way we want to play.”
Tambwe’s progress will be particularly important as White revealed that his star wing Kurt-Lee Arendse won’t be available to the Bulls for the next few months at least, as he has rejoined the Blitzboks sevens squad to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics – if it takes place.
White said that Arendse is contracted to the Springbok Sevens team, but that another sevens sensation, Stedman Gans, is signed with the Bulls, so the latter is back in training at Loftus Versfeld.
Springbok loose forward Nizaam Carr will captain the Pretoria side from openside flank in a new-look loose trio alongside Tim Agaba and young No 8 WJ Steenkamp, while White has mixed-and-matched the rest of the team to test his depth ahead of the Rainbow Cup.
🚨 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Here is the Vodacom Bulls team to take on the EP Elephants in our opening game of the preparation series on Sunday 💪 Nizaam Carr will lead the charge at Loftus 🔥
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 26, 2021
Read the full press release here: https://t.co/mDSCNKXMGk pic.twitter.com/53SZkTaJQR
“Upping the players’ game time is central to our approach during our preparation series, and our team for Sunday emulates that. These guys have toiled under the hot sun biding their time, and their opportunity has now come. We know what they can produce and we are looking forward to how they seize their chances,” the coach said.
Bulls Team
15 David Kriel 14 Madosh Tambwe 13 Marnus Potgieter 12 Marco Jansen van Vuren 11 Stravino Jacobs 10 Chris Smith 9 Embrose Papier 8 WJ Steenkamp 7 Tim Agaba 6 Nizaam Carr (captain) 5 Janko Swanepoel 4 Jan Uys 3 Mornay Smith 2 Joe van Zyl 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Janco Uys 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 18 Gerhard van der Merwe 19 Raynard Roets 20 Uzile Tele 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Jandre Burger 23 Diego Appollis 24 Reinhardt Ludwig 25 Werner Gouws 26 Dawid Kellerman.
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