Bulls pick extended squad for Lions game

The Vodacom Bulls will be missing some of their stars ahead of their midweek fixture against the Xerox Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday thanks to Covid protocols.

Coach Jake White confirmed some players – such as winger Kurt-Lee Arendse and Stedman Gans – would be missing because they were being retested after initially testing positive, then negative and then positive again.

All of which means that the Bulls had to name an extended squad.

On the flip side, the squad includes returns for Lizo Gqoboka at prop, Elrigh Louw at flank and Jan Uys at lock, which can only strengthen the side up front.

The game was rescheduled after positive tests in the Bulls camp initially forced the postponement of the match, meaning the Bulls will play two games this week with their match against the Pumas shifted to Sunday.

“Some players test positive, then negative and then positive again. The reality is because of the uncertainty of whether there is a new strain we’re just retesting a few guys again,” White explained on Monday.

White admitted it has been challenging to plan for the games after a long break, but is happy his team can complete their fixtures.

“It’s unique. Its not often that you can play two or three games in 10 days, and one of those is a playoff game. There is a lot of thought that goes into it behind the scenes – should we go flat out? What do we do? What happens if we play the same players and they don’t last until next Saturday?

“What happens if I decide I’m going to put all my eggs in one basket and then the team changes anyway because three guys test positive. You could actually leave out some guys, and then test, and then have three guys who test positive that you thought could play and then you end up back at square one.

“It isn’t ideal but it is the same for everybody. At this point in time we are just happy that having not played for three weeks we are still top of the log.”

Kick-off is at 4pm CAT (SA, GMT+2) and will be televised live on the SuperSport Grandstand and Rugby channels.

Vodacom Bulls extended match-day squad: Lizo Gqoboka, Schalk Erasmus, Trevor Nyakane, Jan Uys, Ruan Nortje, Marco van Staden, Elrigh Louw, Duane Vermeulen, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Stravino Jacobs, Cornal Hendricks, Marnus Potgieter, Jay-Ceel Nel, David Kriel, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen, Marcel van der Merwe, Walt Steenkamp, Arno Botha, Tim Agaba, Ivan van Zyl, Morne Steyn, Keagan Johannes, David Kellerman, Jade Stighling, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Joe van Zyl.