The Vodacom Bulls suffered a major blow as they will be without their star No 8 Cameron Hanekom for their Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Hanekom, who has been a standout player for the Bulls over the past two seasons and was also named in an extended Springbok alignment camp on Friday, has been struggling with a niggle and the Bulls decided to rest him for the match.
Counteracting his absence though, is the return of World Cup-winning flank Marco van Staden, who joins the loose trio to replace Marcell Coetzee, who captained the Bulls last week and has been stood down after failing an HIA.
In Coetzee’s absence, the Bulls have named young flanker Reinhardt Ludwig as captain for the clash, which is mildly surprising given his age, but the Bulls see him as a future captain and are keen to develop more leaders in their squad.
Ludwig was also part of a Bulls contingent invited to the Bok alignment camp while Nizaam Carr, who was one of the more likely candidates for the captaincy, moves to the No.8 position off the bench to fill the void.
On the bench Jannes Kirsten and Celimpilo Gumede return to the match day 23, while at the back Aphiwe Dyantyi will have the utility role off the bench.
HANEKOM THE TALKING POINT
Hanekom’s absence, though, has been the main talking point from the Bulls announcement, and it will be interesting to see if they change their battle plan with the new look loose trio against a tough Sharks side that has five Springboks in their pack.
“Cameron has a bang on his leg,” coach Jake White said at the announcement, “It’s a contusion and is just one of those things - he needs a bit of time. Especially as an athlete, I don’t think currently he can run full-out and then he can end up tearing a muscle. He was also a bit sick this week, so it worked out that he was sick the same week he got a bang.
“He got it in that first kickoff where he broke free and made the linebreak. He could play with it for the rest of the game, but once he cooled down and then on the airplane, it got a bit worse.”
White said it shouldn’t be a surprise for Ludwig to captain the side.
“He has been captain before. I was tempted to make Nizaam captain but I’m not sure going forward, with Marcell coming back and Marco now back, what the combinations are going to look like going forward.
"I know for a fact that Reinhardt will be around for the rest of the season as well based on the fact he can play lock and flank. He’s been a captain and he has the respect of the players. He will be helped by Nizaam and Willie (le Roux) and guys like Harold Vorster, but I’m pretty happy that he knows what we want to get out of tomorrow,” White said.
EXPECTING SHARKS TO RUN AT BULLS
White said he expected the Sharks to try and run the Bulls off the park and wouldn’t be surprised if the game turned out to be open and fast at Loftus Versfeld.
“I’m expecting them to run from everywhere,” White said, “With the backline they’ve picked, I’m expecting them to run a lot. They would have seen what the Stormers did last week in trying to beat us out wide, and they will try and do that as well.
“But remember that comes at a risk, because if you get it wrong at altitude, you end up running in quicksand. I’m expecting that.
"They might prove me wrong, but with the team they have picked they are going to try and outrun us. But that will be interesting, because we have strong forwards, and it is very difficult to run if your legs are tired from running and mauling.”
The game kicks off at 5pm.
TEAM: Devon Williams; Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Sergeal Petersen; Willie le Roux, Embrose Papier; Nizaam Carr, Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), Marco van Staden, JF van Heerden, Ruan Vermaak, Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: Akker van der Merwe, Gerhard Steenekamp, Francois Klopper, Jannes Kirsten, Celimpilo Gumede, Zak Burger, Boeta Chamberlain, Aphiwe Dyantyi.