Cape Town – The Bulls have been rocked by a thumb injury to star fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse, which may rule him out of the United Rugby Championship playoffs.
Coach Jake White has made a big call to shift in-form right wing Canan Moodie to fullback for Friday’s URC clash against Glasgow at Loftus Versfeld (7pm kickoff).
Moodie’s move to the No 15 jersey has been necessitated by the withdrawal of Arendse, who has been sidelined with a fractured thumb, which White said on Thursday could keep him out for between four and six weeks.
What makes Moodie’s shift to the back even more surprising is the fact that White has brought in a specialist No 15, James Verity-Amm, to slot into Moodie’s usual No 14 spot.
🚨 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 28, 2022
Here is your Vodacom Bulls team to take on Glasgow Warriors tomorrow at Loftus Versfeld 🔥
Get your tickets now: https://t.co/c9ekMZr91n@Vodacom #URC #TrueToTheBlue pic.twitter.com/XhrrlboOAR
The 19-year-old Moodie – who hails from Paarl in the Western Cape – certainly has all the attributes to handle any possible aerial bombardment from Glasgow, as he stands at 1.90m and weighs about 90kg.
But it is a big ask to expect him to play his first URC encounter in a new position in such an important game – one that the Bulls have to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Moodie has been outstanding as a ball-carrier and defender out wide, though, and will be confident enough in trying to handle the No 15 duties, and White said that his strike-running ability – which would provide a similar impact to that of Arendse – saw him get the nod instead of Verity-Amm.
There were also two new halfbacks chosen by White on Thursday, with Morné Steyn and Zak Burger coming in for Chris Smith and Embrose Papier, who will play off the bench.
Arno Botha also gets a welcome start at blindside flank, having played mainly off the bench over the last few weeks, with Cyle Brink now among the replacements.
White will be glad that stalwart centre Harold Vorster has recovered from Covid-19, and he will be a back-up against Glasgow too.
Bulls Team
15 Canan Moodie 14 James Verity-Amm 13 Lionel Mapoe 12 Cornal Hendricks 11 Madosh Tambwe 10 Morné Steyn 9 Zak Burger 8 Elrigh Louw 7 Arno Botha 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Walt Steenkamp 3 Mornay Smith 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenkamp.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Dylan Smith 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 Cyle Brink 21 Embrose Papier 22 Chris Smith 23 Harold Vorster.
@ashfakmohamed