Bulls keep a winning formula
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Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named the same fifteen that ran out in the win over the Sharks for the trip to the Free State Stadium this Saturday.
Ludeke only made one change to the bench, where Piet van Zyl returns to Bloemfontein to face his former Super Rugby team.
“We finally found the momentum we were looking for in the opening rounds of the competition against the Sharks and managed four tries,” Ludeke said in Pretoria on Thursday.
“We will need the confidence and rhythm picked up on the weekend against the Cheetahs.
"They are one of the early front runners and will be full of self-belief.
"I am happy to name the same team. This is not only a vote of confidence, but we are also blessed with no injuries, something that hampered our consistency in the first couple of weeks,” the coach said.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies, who scored one of the four tries against the Sharks last weekend, was keen for his troops to continue their positive mind-set on attack and self-belief in the set-phases.
“We did front up last weekend and for the first time this season, managed to finish when we created try-scoring opportunities.
"Training was much easier this week as the belief came back. We had a good week and are again looking for a good result.
"It will not be easy. They won in Bloem last year, something we need to change,” Spies said.
A big name missing from the Bulls team is Arno Botha who was reportedly returning to the Bulls training next week after recovering from a pectoral injury.
However, Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup coach Nollis Marais has selected the loose forward on the bench.
Another Springbok, Akona Ndungane, will also feature in the Vodacom Cup match against the Falcons in the more unusual position of fullback
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Morné Mellett.
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Tian Schoeman, 22 Piet van Zyl, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Date: Saturday, March 7
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Jaco van Heerden, Lourens van der Merwe
TMO: Johan Greeff
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