Former DHL Stormers utility back Sergeal Petersen has been handed his debut for the Vodacom Bulls this weekend, as coach Jake White made almost a dozen changes to his match-day 23 for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against Zebre Parma on Saturday.
etersen, who was a surprise signing at the end of last season, will come into a back-three with Pumas duo Sebastian de Klerk and Devon Williams, both of whom have played both the Bulls previous games in this year’s season.
White believes Petersen’s versatility could be a key asset for him as he looks to make an impression first up for the Bulls.
“We rate Sergeal highly, that is why we brought him into our setup. We know what he offers our squad and he has a lot more experience than some of our outside backs. He has pace, and he can play at fullback so I am quite keen to see how he adapts playing in this back three. He understands fullback play as well so it will be good to have a wing that can play fullback. That is something we look forward to having for the coming seasons.”
White has made a number of changes - with Wilco Louw the only starter from the narrow loss to Ulster retained for the clash from the front row. This week Simphiwe Matanzima and Akker van der Merwe get starts while Janko Swanepoel comes in to partner Ruan Nortje. The loose trio remains the same with youngster Cameron Hanekom getting his third start at No 8.
With the halfback combination unchanged, David Kriel moves from outside centre to inside, with Stedman Gans getting a start at 13.
On the bench Johan Grobbelaar joins the two Smiths - Dylan and Mornay as the back up front row. Embrose Papier is the only change in the backline reserves.
White said he expected a high-scoring game in Parma on Saturday.
“We expect them to score a lot of points, they scored 36 in the opening match and scored 36 in their second too, so they score a lot of tries. We expect a tough game and for them to test our defence really hard,” White said.
“They (Zebre) were in both their opening games till the death. This Zebre side came close against Ulster and they were in it against Ospreys so we know they will be tough opponents for sure. They were a scrum away from the match against Ulster and they just just lost it against Ospreys, so there are no easy games,”
“Zebre with the make-up of their squad probably have the least number of internationals and that means they have the least amount of disruptions which makes them hard to come up against at the start of a season.”
Vodacom Bulls: Devon Williams, Sebastian de Klerk, Stedman Gans, David Kriel, Sergeal Petersen; Johan Goosen, Zak Burger; Cameron Hanekom, Elrigh Louw, Marcell Coetzee (co-captain), Ruan Nortje (co-captain), Janko Swanepoel, Wilco Louw, Akker van der Merwe, Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: Johan Grobbelaar, Dylan Smith, Mornay Smith, Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Wandisile Simelane.