Bulls extend Pollard's 'rest'
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has opted to extend the lay-off period for Springboks Handré Pollard and Jan Serfontein.
The duo will not feature in the matchday squad when the South African conference leaders take on the Reds in a Super Rugby Round Nine match in Pretoria on Saturday.
The additional week's rest is in line with a request from the South African Rugby Union to all franchises to give key Springboks adequate breaks during the season.
"We have some big games and a tour coming up and I would like both of them to be 100 percent fit for that," Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said.
"Both Jacques-Louis [Potgieter] and Burger [Odendaal] played well when called upon and I am happy to give them another opportunity.
"You need your whole squad to contribute to be successful in this competition," the coach added.
Ludeke made two changes to his starting pack from the team that lost 18-22 to the Lions in Johannesburg last weekend.
Springbok flank Arno Botha has recovered from injury and is selected to start, replacing Hanro Liebenberg in the No.7 jersey – with Liebenberg moving down to the replacement bench.
Callie Visagie also replaces Adriaan Strauss at hooker, with the latter rested in line with an agreement with SARU.
This will be Visagie's first start of the season.
His place on the replacement bench will be taken by Jaco Visagie, who on two previous occasions this season did bench duty.
Springbok lock Flip van der Merwe has also recovered from injury and has been included on the bench.
"It is great to have Flip back," Ludeke said.
"He does not only provide a physical presence and some real grunt up front, he is also an important leader in the squad and with Victor [Matfield] out for a couple of weeks, Flip's return could not come at a better time."
There is no changes to the backline.
The Bulls' Bok prop Trevor Nyakane will play in his 50th Super Rugby match on Saturday, with 42 of those appearances coming in the colours of the Cheetahs.
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Date: Saturday, April 11
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19.10 (03.10 Sunday, April 12 AEST; 17.10 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Lesego Legoete (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
