The Vodacom Bulls have loaded their touring squad with a dozen capped Springboks as coach Jake White made good on his promise to include several of his marquee players on the three-match tour that is their next phase of the Vodacom United Rugby championship campaign.
The 34-man squad doesn’t include Marco van Staden - the only current Bok that misses out on selection - and it isn’t clear if it is because of injury or not, as the side headed off Tuesday for three games in Europe.
They face the Ospreys on Saturday, followed by the Scarlets a week later and Benetton on the 25th of October in their final tour game before heading home.
The tour squad includes World Cup winners in Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie - the latter who White hinted would be seen more at 13 this season, while others that have turned out for the Boks this year include Elrigh Louw and Ruan Nortje, as well as Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Still on the injured list is regular flyhalf Johan Goosen, as are a host of others, and for this reason Chris Barend Smit - who is normally seen in the midfield and not to be confused with the former Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith - has been included alongside Jaco van der Walt and Boeta Chamberlain as the teams’ flyhalves.
Embrose Papier, Zak Burger and Keagan Johannes are the halfbacks while Moodie’s doubling up as a midfielder allows White to take only two other midfield options in Stedman Gans and David Kriel.
Sebastian de Klerk and Aphiwe Dyantyi are the other wingers, while Henry Immelmann is the other fullback. Dyantyi has played in the midfield as well since joining the Bulls, while Immelmann has also appeared on the wing.
Up front there are several players who can play both lock and in the loose trio and White has a lot of versatility to choose from there.
Louw is joined by Cameron Hanekom, Celimpilo Gumede, Marcell Coetzee and new signing Nama Xaba while Sintu Manjezi has been listed as a loose forward rather than a lock in the team social media post.
Nortje is the key player at lock, while Cobus Wiese, Ruan Vermaak, Reinhard Ludwig can all play flank if needed. The other lock in the side is SA under-20 captain JF van Heerden.
Up front the key front row of Wilco Louw, Steenekamp and Akker van der Merwe is there, along with Wessels and Grobbelaar. Dylan Smith and Alulutho Tshwakeni are the other loosehead props listed with Wessels listed as the third hooker. At tighthead, Mornay Smith and Francois Klopper are the backup players.
All in all the Bulls will be able to select a very strong match day 23 from this touring squad and their match against the Ospreys in particular will be key to watch.
SQUAD
Forwards: Gerhard Steenekamp, Dylan Smith, Alulutho Tsakweni, Mornay Smith, Wilco Louw, Francois Klopper, Johan Grobbelaar, Akker van der Merwe, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ruan Nortje, Cobus Wiese, Ruan Vermaak, Reinhard Ludwig, JF van Heerden, Celimpilo Gumede, Nama Xaba, Cameron Hanekom, Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw, Sintu Manjezi
Backs: Zak Burger, Keagan Johannes, Embrose Papier, Jaco van der Walt, Boeta Chamberlain, Chris Smit, Stedman Gans, David Kriel, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Sebastian de Klerk, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Willie le Roux, Henry Immelman