A new captain and 11 changes to the starting line-up. That’s the Vodacom Bulls’ reaction to their defeat in Belfast against Ulster in naming their side ahead of Friday night’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture against Connacht in Galway.
Reinhardt Ludwig, who only returned to action via the bench last weekend, will captain the side into battle as coach Johan Ackermann rang the changes in response to the first defeat of the season.
While the starting line-up is not only rotation, the bench sees a bunch of changes as well, the Bulls made full use of their extended squad to go into this fixture and try and repeat last season’s first win in the Irish coastal city.
Ludwig is a known leader, a former headboy at Affies and captained the first team and has been slowly been a growing voice in the bulls side, getting his chance to lead the side into battle with David Kriel, who was on the bench against Ulster, moving into the starting line-up as vice-captain.
The side had said goodbye to one of their Springboks - Handre Pollard, who flew back to South Africa for the birth of his second child.
But then Ackermann made a number of changes, with Alulutho Tshakweni replacing Springbok Gerhard Steenekamp at loosehead, Bok swinger Jan-Hendrik Wessels moving into the hooker position for Johan Grobbelaar while Wilco Louw will start again but then leave the camp after the Connacht match.
Ludwig comes into the starting line-up for Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, while JJ Theron, the SA under-20 star, and Nama Xaba move into the starting line-up for Marco van Staden and Celimpilo Gumede.
Gumede and Janse van Rensburg are on the bench.
Pollard’s absence sees Keagan Johannes move back into the 10 jersey as he was in the opening two games of the season, while new recruit Paul de Wet partners him at nine.
In the midfield, another new recruit - Jan Serfontein moved into the 12 jersey, while Kriel is back at 13. In the back three, a hamstring injury to Devon Williams sees Willie le Roux move into the 15 role while Canan Moodie replaces Stravino Jacobs on the right wing and Sebastian de Klerk is on the left.
The changes mean the Bulls can field a strong bench front row of Steenekamp, Grobbelaar and Francois Klopper, while Janse van Rensburg and Gumede complete the forward complement. At the back, Embrose Papier, Vorster and Jacobs will cover in a traditional five three split.
Connacht arrive for this fixture having struggled recently in the VURC, with only two wins in their last eight matches, and both against Italian opposition. Despite this, the Irish province remained competitive at home, losing just once in their last four Championship games there, a 21-31 setback against Edinburgh last year.
Connacht’s record against South African teams, however, is less impressive, with just one victory from their last seven encounters, a narrow 36-30 win over the Sharks in Galway in September 2024.
The Bulls have lost their last two away games and have not suffered three consecutive away defeats since October 2023.
Historically, the two sides have clashed four times, with the Bulls holding the upper hand in three wins. Their only loss was a 7-34 defeat in Galway in 2021.
Vodacom Bulls: Willie le Roux; Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Sebastian de Klerk; Keagan Johannes, Paul de Wet; Jeandre Rudolph, JJ Theron, Nama Xaba, Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), Cobus Wiese, Wilco Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Alulutho Tshakweni.
Replacements: Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Francois Kloppers, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Celimpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs.