Bulls take scrum gamble

Former SA under-20 tighthead prop Dayan van der Westhuizen faces a tough test this weekend after being selected at loosehead for the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Currie Cup match against the Xerox Golden Lions this coming Saturday.

Van der Westhuizen has been moonlighting at loosehead for the past few weeks and has been under the tutelage of scrum guru Daan Human, but a knee injury which has ended Simphiwe Matanzima's season means that there are no fit loosehead props left at Loftus currently and Van der Westhuizen will have to move into the gap left by the injury.

Lizo Gqoboka is at the Springboks, Matthys Basson is injured and the 25-year old prop will need to stand his ground against a Lions scrum that looks strong in their unbeaten run in the competition thus far.

But it isn't just at prop where Bulls coach Pote Human has problems. Losing both his captain Ruan Steenkamp and Springbok Marco van Staden to concussion this week has made his task even tougher, especially as for some unclarified reason Roelof Smit is also unavailable to play this week for the Bulls.

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Smit signed at the Lions and will be leaving at the end of the season, but would have been perfect to stand in for Human in the absence of the other two flankers.

On Wednesday though, Human said he had "had a chat with Smit and he is unavailable for us this week," without any clarification.

A relatively unknown flanker, Fred Eksteen, comes into the fetcher role and has played under Human at Tuks before. Added to this, Andries Ferreira returns to the starting line-up at lock while Johan Grobbelaar, who has impressed in every game off the bench, gets a start for the first time in the Currie Cup.

Wian Vosloo comes into the seven flank spot while Ivan van Zyl returns from outside the squad to take up the captaincy armband for the first time in his time at the Bulls.

On the bench Madot Makabela will cover prop.

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Human said hard words fell earlier this week in the Bulls camp and he is confident of a different performance this coming week.

"Everybody knows it was not a good campaign, but if we can get a win against the unbeaten Lions then it can change everything. Off the field the spirit is good, it doesn't perhaps look like that on the field. I looked at the game again and there were seven tries we didn't score and you can't do that against any team.

"That is 35 points we left on the table. Griquas played well but they used their opportunities well and scored. We had a long look at ourselves and worked hard, and I'm excited about this week.

“It is also good with the Lions, because they already think they are in the final so we have something to prove. Even if it is only for pride, it will be great for me to put one over the Lions again," Human added.

Vodacom Blue Bulls: Divan Rossouw, Cornal Hendricks, Johnny Kotze, Dylan Sage, Rosko Specman, Manie Libbok, Ivan van Zyl (capt), Tim Agaba, Wian Vosloo, Fred Eksteen, Ruan Nortje, Andries Ferreira, Wiehahn Herbst, Johan Grobbelaar, Dayan van der Westhuizen.

Replacements: Jaco Visagie, Madot Mabokela, Conraad van Vuuren, Adre Smith, Jean Droste, Embrose Papier, Marnitz Boshoff, Stedman Gans.