Matfield 'rested'; Strauss plays on
Veteran Springbok Victor Matfield will play off the bench when the Bulls host the Western Force in a Super Rugby Round Six match in Pretoria on Saturday.
It will be the first time this season that the 37-year-old lock, Matfield, will not be in the Bulls' starting XV.
His absence from the starting XV is in line with the South African Rugby Union 'request' that key Springboks should not play more than five consecutive matches.
Matfield started in the defeats to the Stormers (17-29) and Hurricanes (13-17), as well as the victories over the Sharks (43-35) and Cheetahs (39-20).
The Bulls had a bye last week, but according to the SARU directive – in agreement with the Super Rugby franchises – bye weeks are not considered as a rest week (although they do trigger a restart of the count of consecutive weeks).
However, fellow Bok stalwart Adriaan Strauss will feature in the starting XV for the fifth time this season.
Like the Bulls' younger Boks – Handré Pollard, Jan Serfontein, Francois Hougaard and Trevor Nyakane – Strauss has featured in all the team's matches this season.
* Meanwhile the Bulls will feature a new-look front row against the Force at Loftus Versfeld.
Marcel van der Merwe and Dean Greyling will earn their first starts of the season, Bulls coach Frans Ludeke made three changes to his pack.
Van der Merwe and Greyling, who both made late starts to the competition due to injury, will swap places with Trevor Nyakane and Morné Mellett respectively.
The other selection change up front will see Grant Hattingh earn his first start of the season – in place of Matfield.
The bench also have two new faces this week, with Arno Botha returning and Jaco Visagie set to make his Bulls and Super Rugby debut.
Botha, who was injured in the season's opener against the Stormers, is fit again and replaces Hanro Liebenberg.
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jurgen Visser.
Date: Saturday, March 21
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.05 (23.05 AWST; 15.05 GMT)
Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha (South Africa), Pro Legoete (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
