Bulls change two for Lions
The Blue Bulls team to face the Golden Lions in Pretoria on Saturday sees two changes from the one that beat Griquas at Loftus Versfeld last weekend.
At scrumhalf, Ruan Snyman will earn his first start, swopping places with Rudy Paige (who drops to the bench) and Mbongeni Mbonambi will start at hooker in place of the injured Callie Visagie.
Former Blue Bulls hooker Bandise Maku, who left Pretoria to play for the Lions and later the Southern Kings, returns to the team on the bench, whilst Jacques Engelbrecht will earn his first start for his new team should he be called upon from the bench.
Engelbrecht, a former SWD Eagles, Kings and Springbok Sevens player, comes in for the injured Jean Cook.
"We have played well in patches this far and now need to produce a more lasting effort," coach Pine Pienaar said.
"The Lions have a lot of momentum and have played as a unit for a while now, so we will need to counter that by playing as a team. I am happy to call on the likes of Bandise and Jacques as they have slotted in very well and I am sure they will make a telling contribution off the bench."
Blue Bulls captain Jono Ross echoed his coach's sentiments.
"We have improved every match and that is the pleasing part of our performances. We have not put together an 80 minute effort yet though and everyone is quite conscious about that. We have seen that when we play as a team, we are hard to beat, so our objectives are quite clear in that regard," he said.
Blue Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Tony Jantjies, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Jono Ross (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Morné Mellett.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Marcel van der Merwe, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Waylon Murray, 22 Clayton Blommetjies.
Date: Saturday, August 24
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Jaco Van Heerden, Cobus Wessels
