Bulls take a near full-house to Harare

The Bulls depart for Zimbabwe on Wednesday, where they will tackle Gauteng neighbours the Lions in a double derby – which also features a game between the Stormers and Cheetahs.

The massive Bulls squad includes a number of injured players.

Players not available for the opening match of the year, against the Stormers in Cape Town on February 25, are Adriaan Strauss (back surgery), Arno Botha (shoulder surgery) and Jannes Kirsten (shoulder surgery).

Lock Jason Jenkins (shoulder) and Jan Serfontein (back) will not be making the trip to Zimbabwe, although they are expected to be fit to face the Stormers next month.

Springboks Handré Pollard and Jesse Kriel are also travelling to Harare, but unlikely to make an appearance.

Pollard (shoulder and knee surgery) and Kriel (lower leg) are set to make their return from injury when the Bulls face the two-time Super Rugby champion Chiefs in a pre-season match in Ballymore, Brisbane, on February 8. Three days later both teams will feature in Brisbane 10s.

A player who is set to make his return from injury in Harare is junior Springbok flyer Warrick Gelant.

Gelant will return from injury along with Dries Swanepoel.

Coach Nollis Marais is clearly using the trip to Zimbabwe to test his team's depth.

The Bulls have made significant acquisitions for the 2017 season – Bok lock Lodewyk de Jager (from the Cheetahs), prop Jacobie Adriaanse (from Kings), prop  Conraad van Vuuren (from Free State Cheetahs), hooker Edgar Marutlulle (from Kings), loose forward Shaun Adendorff (from Boland Cavaliers), utility back Johnny Kôtze (from Stormers) and wing Sibahle Maxwane (from Western Province).

Those players are likely to get a run in Zimbabwe.

Bulls squad: Lizo Gboka, Jaco Visagie, Coenraad van Vuuren, Ruben van Heerden, Abongile Nonkontwana, Nic de Jager, Hendre Stassen, Renaldo Bothma, Ivan van Zyl, Tony Jantjies, John Jackson, Johnny Kotze, Sibahle Maxwane, Jade Stigling, Manie Libbok, Corniel Els, Pierre Schoeman, Rudolph Snyman, Shaun Adendorff, Andre Warner, Francois Brummer, Franco Naude, Edgar Marutlulle, John-Roy Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Lodewyk de Jager, Adriaan Strauss, Jacques Potgieter, Hanro Liebenberg, Rudi Paige, Handré Pollard, Jacobie Adriaanse, Burger Odendaal, Dries Swanepoel, Jamba Ulengo, Jesse Kriel, Warrick Gelant, Tian Schoeman, Luther Obi.