Cape Town – New lock signing Ruan Vermaak was included in the 28-man Bulls touring squad on Tuesday for their United Rugby Championship trip to Wales to face the Ospreys on Friday night.
The clash at the Swansea.com (Liberty) Stadium (9.10pm SA time kickoff) will see Jake White’s team go all out to gain a maximum five log points to move up to 58, which will hopefully result in a home quarter-final at Loftus Versfeld.
But they will have to depend on other results going their way to finish fourth or higher, especially fellow South African sides the Sharks and Stormers, who take on Ulster and Scarlets respectively this weekend.
Former Lions lock Vermaak arrived in Pretoria last week from Japanese club NTT Red Hurricanes, and it will be interesting to see whether he gets some game-time off the bench against the Ospreys, as the Bulls have an established second-row pair of Walt Steenkamp and Ruan Nortje, with youngster Janko Swanepoel usually on the bench.
Impressive displays for the Bulls Currie Cup side against the Lions last weekend have seen flyhalf Juan Mostert, centre Marco Jansen van Vuren and wing David Kriel get the nod as well.
“We have an important tour where we will face a dangerous Ospreys team in their own backyard. We are at a crucial stage of the competition – the business end of the round-robin stages and on the verge of the playoffs, with plenty to play for in terms of securing home quarter-final spots,” White said on Tuesday.
“Be that as it may, the focus is on playing well as a group this week and to start building good momentum going into the playoffs.”
Bulls Tour Squad
Forwards (16): Arno Botha, Bismarck du Plessis, Cyle Brink, Dylan Smith, Elrigh Louw, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Janko Swanepoel, Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee (captain), Mornay Smith, Robert Hunt, Ruan Nortje, Ruan Vermaak, Simphiwe Matanzima, Walt Steenkamp.
Backs (12): Canan Moodie, Chris Smith, Cornal Hendricks, David Kriel, Embrose Papier, Harold Vorster, Juan Mostert, Keagan Johannes, Madosh Tambwe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Stedman Gans, Zak Burger.
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