Cape Town – The Bulls have been boosted by the return of Springbok scrumhalf Embrose Papier for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Benetton at Loftus Versfeld (2pm kickoff).
Papier missed the last two matches – the 34-16 bonus-point win over Ulster and the 19-17 loss to the Stormers – due to concussion following a knock to the head in the 55-20 victory over the Dragons on March 26.
His accurate box-kicking and speed across the ground has been missed by the Bulls, and coach Jake White will be delighted to welcome him back for such a crucial encounter.
Papier’s presence sees Zak Burger move to the bench, while Keagan Johannes has been left out.
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The second change in the backline comes at inside centre, where Cornal Hendricks has been restored to the No 12 jersey in place of Harold Vorster, who has tested positive for Covid-19.
Hendricks rejuvenated his career in that position over the last few years, and will hope to make a major difference to the Bulls attack with his pace and side-stepping ability after the backline battled to get going against the Stormers.
The rest of the starting line-up is the same as the one that ran on at Cape Town Stadium, but there are a couple of fresh faces among the replacements.
New prop signing Dylan Smith is listed as the reserve tighthead prop, despite having spent most of his Lions career as a loosehead previously, while Jan-Hendrik Wessels is back as the hooker on the bench.
Former Blitzbok captain Stedman Gans will also be keen to make an impact in the second half.
Bulls team: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse 14 Canan Moodie 13 Lionel Mapoe 12 Cornal Hendricks 11 Madosh Tambwe 10 Chris Smith 9 Embrose Papier 8 Elrigh Louw 7 Cyle Brink 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Walt Steenkamp 3 Mornay Smith 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Dylan Smith 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 Arno Botha 21 Zak Burger 22 Morné Steyn 23 Stedman Gans.