White shuffles Bulls pack for Ospreys

The Vodacom Bulls have made three changes to their side to face the Ospreys in their opening Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour match in Wales on Saturday, reshuffling the lock duo and loose trio in the process.

While the backline stays the same as the one that scored the majority of tries in their seven-try win over Ulster, all the changes are up front as the Bulls look to kick off their tour on a high.

The most glaring change is the rotation of Cameron Hanekom to the bench for the clash, allowing Springbok Elrigh Louw to move to eight, while Reinhard Ludwig moves in at seven and Marcell Coetzee comes in at six. Marco van Staden, who is not on tour with the squad, was at six against Ulster.

Ruan Nortje leads the side into battle once again, but his lock partner this time around is Ruan Vermaak, who swaps spots with Cobus Wiese, the latter going onto the bench for the clash.

The Bulls will once again sport their powerhouse front row of Springboks Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw, while their back-up is Alulutho Tshakweni, Akker van der Merwe and Francois Klopper. Springbok Jan-Hendrik Wessels is not in the match-day 23.

The five-three split on the bench sees last weekend’s backline bench retained with Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans and Aphiwe Dyantyi on call when needed.

VODACOM BULLS: Willie le Roux; Sebastian de Klerk, Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Boeta Chamberlain, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw, Reinhardt Ludwig, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Nortje (captain), Ruan Vermaak, Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp.

REPLACEMENTS: Akker van der Merwe, Alulutho Tshakweni, Francois Klopper, Cobus Wiese, Cameron Hanekom, Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans, Aphiwe Dyantyi