When you lose two Springbok wings in the same match, you are bound to have a few selection headaches, and that is the challenge facing Bulls boss Jake White this weekend.
Canan Moodie (hamstring) and Sbu Nkosi (concussion) did not travel with the 30-man squad on Monday night – along with hooker Johan Grobbelaar (ankle) – for their three-match United Rugby Championship tour of Europe, where they will face Glasgow Warriors on Saturday (8.35pm kick-off), followed by Munster (October 15) and Benetton (October 21).
The Pretoria side are sitting pretty after three wins and 14 points, which puts them in second place on the log behind Leinster on points difference.
But White will hope that they maintain their momentum on tour, and they will fancy their chances of knocking over Glasgow, who have won just once in three games – against battling Cardiff – this season.
The Scottish outfit went down 32-17 to the Ospreys in Wales last weekend.
The Bulls, though, will need to be smart about their back-three combinations in the absence of Moodie and Nkosi.
Grobbelaar will mostly likely be replaced by Jan-Hendrik Wessels at hooker, with White impressed by the youngster’s performance in last week’s 28-14 win over Connacht despite a few errors and a yellow card.
Veteran Bismarck du Plessis will be the insurance policy on the bench.
But there are a number of options for White to contemplate in the back-three.
In the opening 31-15 victory over the Lions, Wandisile Simelane lined up at fullback, with Cornal Hendricks at right wing and Nkosi on the left.
A week later in the 33-31 triumph over Edinburgh, Johan Goosen slotted in at No 15, with Hendricks at No 14 and Stravino Jacobs at No 11.
Last week against Connacht, it was Kurt-Lee Arendse at fullback, with Moodie and Nkosi out wide.
Springbok star Arendse will be involved in the Glasgow clash, but in which position?
He is most effective at No 15, where his counter-attacking abilities give the Bulls a dynamic weapon with ball-in-hand, while he is solid under the high ball and an excellent defender.
But with Jacobs not included in the tour squad, Arendse might have to move out wide, with Simelane at No 15.
The former Lions centre had some good and iffy moments against his ex-team at Ellis Park, and will need more game time there to handle those responsibilities. Against Glasgow in a latenight game at Scotstoun Stadium, though, might not be the right time for Simelane to find his feet.
With Harold Vorster back from injury, Hendricks can easily shift to right wing again, but a wiser option may be to keep Arendse at fullback and then move David Kriel – who has played in the back-three regularly before, but has operated at inside centre this season – to left wing.
That would allow Vorster to rekindle his midfield partnership with Lionel Mapoe.
Of course, Goosen is another man who can fill in at fullback, with the Springbok end-of-year tour looming, he needs as much time at flyhalf as possible – especially with the injury cloud around Handre Pollard.
Bulls Tour Squad Forwards (17): Gerhard Steenekamp, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Klopper, Mornay Smith, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Marcell Coetzee, WJ Steenkamp, Marco van Staden, Reinhardt Ludwig, Elrigh Louw, Dylan Smith, Joe van Zyl.
Backs (13): Zak Burger, Embrose Papier, Johan Goosen, Chris Smith, Stedman Gans, Bernard van der Linde, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Lionel Mapoe, Morné Steyn, Cornal Hendricks, Wandisile Simelane, KurtLee Arendse.
IOL Sport