SA U23 Cup, Bulls XV v Stormers XXIII - Teams and Prediction
PREVIEW: North meets South once more as the age-old rivalry between the Bulls and Stormers will record another chapter in their first SA Under-23 Cup meeting.
The Bulls XV have opted for a balance of youth and experience for Saturday’s SA U23 Cup fixture against the Stormers XV at Loftus Versfeld (B Field).
With two Springboks in the line-up – Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jan Serfontein – the home team will be well led against the formidable side from the Western Cape.
The Bulls XV tripped up in their first fixture, against the Lions, but have trained well and are determined to give a good account of themselves under coach Phiwe Nomlomo.
No fewer than a dozen players have represented South Africa at U20 level, among them Juann Else, JJ Theron and Nama Xaba.
Centre Josh Boulle will lead the Stormers XXIII in Pretoria.
The Stormers XXIII will be looking to make it two wins from two when action gets underway in Pretoria on Saturday.
The preview continues below…
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Following their win against Sharks U23 in the opening round, Boulle’s team head north this weekend without any of their Junior Springboks stars.
Boulle is joined in midfield by Bruce Sherwood, with Ezekiel Ngobeni on the wing in place of the injured Suleiman Hartzenberg and Asad Moos and Kyle Smith the halfback pairing.
Keke Morabe will have Aden da Costa and a fit-again Divan Fuller alongside him in the loose trio, while there is an all-new tight five with Alex Groves and Adam de Waal at lock and props Mhleli Khuzwayo and Herman Lubbe starting either side of hooker Vernon Paulo.
Head Coach Labeeb Levy said that with so many forced changes, the challenge will be to find some fluency between the various combinations.
“With the Junior Springboks unavailable and a few injuries from our first match, we have had to change things up a bit, but we are excited to see how some of the new faces perform.
“It is always a tough encounter up in Pretoria, and after a good training week, we are ready to give it a full go up there.
“There were a few important lessons we took out of our first match in Durban, so hopefully we see an improvement in certain standards,” he said.
Prediction
Rugby365: Stormers XXIII by five points
Teams
Bulls XV: 15 Aka Boqwana, 14 Ruan Enslin, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 PA van Niekerk, 11 Riyaad Bam, 10 Ian van der Merwe, 9 Neil le Roux, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Cephas van Biljon, 5 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 4 Jannes Kirsten (captain), 3 Jean Erasmus, 2 Juann Else, 1 Aphiwe Shelembe
Replacements: 16 Shaun Schürmann, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Duwan Potgieter, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Steven Nel, 22 Ruben Groenewald, 23 Marnus Rademeyer
DHL Stormers XXIII: 15 JC Mars, 14 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 13 Josh Boulle (captain), 12 Bruce Sherwood, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Aden da Costa, 6 Divan Fuller, 5 Alex Groves, 4 Adam de Waal, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Matthew Beckett, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 CJ Gordon, 20 Aiden Norris, 21 Alutha Wesi, 22 Dominic Malgas, 23 Luke Burger.
Date: Saturday, April 11
Venue: Loftus Versfeld (B field), Pretoria
Kick-off: 14.00 SAST (12.00 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Lottering
Assistant referees: SARU appointed
TMO: SARU appointed
