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Jake White makes five changes as Bulls seek key to unlock Cheetahs

Jake White (Bulls Director of Coaching) during the Super Rugby Unlocked match between Vodacom Bulls and Tafel Lager Griquas at Loftus Versfeld on October 10, 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Jake White (Bulls Director of Coaching) during the Super Rugby Unlocked match between Vodacom Bulls and Tafel Lager Griquas at Loftus Versfeld on October 10, 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Image: Lee Warren/Gallo Images

Jake White has made five changes to the Bulls’ starting line-up for their round two match of Super Rugby Unlocked against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday night.

Captain Duane Vermeulen returns at No.8 with Tim Agaba rested while the powerful Johan Grobbelaar has been given a starting opportunity in the middle of the scrum alongside Trevor Nyakane and Jacques van Rooyen.

“We struggled to get going against the Griquas and we cannot afford the same against a strong Cheetahs team. We were fortunate to walk away with last week's win and we need to do better by implementing our style of play in this clash as soon as possible‚” said White.

Embrose Papier replaces fellow Springbok scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl who drops to the bench‚ while Jade Stighling slots in on the left wing in place of Travis Ismaiel.

Swart will take care of the inside centre channel alongside Cornal Hendricks‚ who has moved to outside centre with Stedman Gans moving to the bench‚ where his knack for exploiting gaps will be utilised when the backs of opposition start to tire.

Interest will be on the midfield combination of Swart and Hendricks whose pace and strength is expected to come in handy against a Free State outfit brimming with confidence after handing the Pumas a massive defeat last week.

The bench has also been tweaked with under-21 star Joe van Zyl set to receive his first senior cap if he is called upon while Gerhard Steenekamp replaces the injured Lizo Gqoboka‚ who sustained a calf injury against the Griquas.

Nizaam Carr is the final change amongst the replacements with the Springbok loose forward coming in for Elrigh Louw.

Bulls: Gio Aplon‚ 14. David Kriel‚ 13. Cornal Hendricks‚ 12. Clinton Swart‚ 11. Jade Stighling‚ 10. Morné Steyn‚ 9. Embrose Papier‚ 8. Duane Vermeulen (C)‚ 7. Arno Botha‚ 6. Marco van Staden‚ 5. Ruan Nortje‚ 4. Jason Jenkins‚ 3. Trevor Nyakane‚ 2. Johan Grobbelaar‚ 1. Jacques van Rooyen.

Replacements: 16. Joe van Zyl‚ 17. Gerhard Steenekamp‚ 18. Mornay Smith‚ 19. Sintu Manjezi‚ 20. Nizaam Carr‚ 21. Ivan van Zyl‚ 22. Chris Smith‚ 23. Stedman Gans.