CAPE TOWN - Springboks prop Marcel van der Merwe will don the Bulls No 3 jersey once more in Saturday’s Super Rugby Unlocked showdown against the Sharks in Pretoria, while there is also a return from injury for wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Van der Merwe came back to Loftus Versfeld from French club Toulon during the Covid-19 lockdown, and is finally ready for action after missing the first few games because of an injury.
The seven-Test front-rower comes in for another Bok in Trevor Nyakane, who will play off the bench on Saturday (7pm kick-off).
Bulls director of rugby Jake White has reshuffled his backline as well after Gio Aplon was ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a serious knee injury.
Youngster David Kriel gets his shot in his preferred No 15 jersey after playing at wing up to now, which sees Arendse slotting in at No 11 after being laid low by a bump to the leg for a few weeks.
Travis Ismaiel is back in the starting side at right wing, while the original centre pair of Stedman Gans and Cornal Hendricks are reunited from the SuperFan Saturday warm-up win over the Sharks.
In the final backline change, Ivan van Zyl gets a chance at scrumhalf ahead of Embrose Papier.
🚨 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 #BullsFamily here is your match-day 23 to take on the Cell C @TheSharksZA in round 3 of Vodacom #SuperRugbyUnlocked 💪
Comment below with your score predictions 👇
Check out the press release for more info: https://t.co/3tx9x24BWo#BULvSHA pic.twitter.com/uNv5XMplKS
Apart from Van der Merwe, there is another new face in the pack in the shape of youngster Elrigh Louw, who takes the place of Arno Botha at No 7.
Botha moves to the bench, where utility back Marco Jansen van Vuren has been added to the match-day squad.
Bulls Team
15 David Kriel 14 Travis Ismaiel 13 Stedman Gans 12 Cornal Hendricks 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Morné Steyn 9 Ivan van Zyl 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain) 7 Elrigh Louw 6 Marco van Staden 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Jason Jenkins 3 Marcel van der Merwe 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Bench: 16 Joe van Zyl 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Trevor Nyakane 19 Sintu Manjezi 20 Arno Botha 21 Embrose Papier 22 Chris Smith 23 Marco Jansen van Vuren.
@AshfakMohamed