Bulls turn a new Paige
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke handed scrumhalf Rudy Paige a first Super Rugby start, when he named his team to play the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
All nine of previous appearances by the Springbok tourist in this competition came off the bench – with his elevation to the starting team the only change from the run-on side that came up short against the Hurricanes last weekend.
Paige, who played off the bench in that close defeat, replaces Piet van Zyl – who drops out of the match day squad altogether.
Travis Ismaiel comes in for Paige on the bench and should he take to the field, the former South African Under-20 wing will make his debut for the team.
"Rudy has been playing well and we feel his game is best suited for this week and opponent," Ludeke explained.
A fit-again Marcel van der Merwe will also been eased in from the bench.
There are three centurions in the matchday squad – Victor Matfield 140 (Bulls 132 and Cats eight), Adriaan Strauss 107 (Cheetahs 97, Bulls 10) and Pierre Spies 105 (all Bulls).
Coach Frans Ludeke will extend his Super Rugby record as the most experienced coach.
He has coached the Bulls in 111 matches and the Cats in 24 for a tally of 135.
Victor Matfield will extend his SA record as most capped Super Rugby player to 141 and his Bulls record to 133.
It also is his 16th season of Super Rugby, a record he shares with Tony Brown and Tana Umaga.
Should they take to the field, Travis Ismaiel and Tian Schoeman will make their Super Rugby and Bulls debuts.
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 Travis Ismaiel, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Date: Saturday, February 28
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Ben Crouse (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
