Springbok No 8 Elrigh Louw returns to the starting line-up of the Vodacom Bulls after missing out on the Scarlets match because of concussion and will lead his side into battle in their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against Italian side Benetton in Treviso on Friday night.
Louw, who was also called up to the Springboks this week for the November tour, has been given the captaincy for the game, which the Bulls desperately want to win to finish off their tour on a high note.
Louw is joined in the loose trio by veteran Marcell Coetzee and rising star Reinhardt Ludwig, who captained the Bulls in the second half last week and is making a steady impression for the Pretoria side.
Alulutho Tshakweni returns to the loosehead side in the absence of Gerhard Steenekamp, with newly called-up Springbok duo of Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw completing the front row.
‼️TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT‼️
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) October 24, 2024
YOUR team to face Benetton tomorrow night for our last game on tour 🔥 #ForeverBlue pic.twitter.com/cVDXRpQ7zX
With Ruan Nortje back in South Africa, Cobus Wiese is this week partnered by SA under-20 lock JF van Heerden, who will be looking to make an impression on the coaching side.
At the back Devon Williams has moved into the fullback role, with Aphiwe Dyantyi named on the right wing.
David Kriel, fresh from being exonerated for a red card, will start at inside centre with Canan Moodie on his outside.
On the bench the names of Akker van der Merwe, Cameron Hanekom and Sebastian de Klerk stand out.
'NEED TO ADAPT TO REF'
White brushed aside concerns that the Bulls would meet up with Irish referee Eoghan Cross this weekend again.
Cross was the official who red carded Kriel, only to have the disciplinary committee rescind the card and state it should never have led to a send off.
“He is a test referee, and he is going to ref test matches in this block now, so he’s a rated referee,” White said.
“He made a call and the referees are human. I’m happy that there is a judiciary that gives a player a chance to state his case. I’m not wary of anything from the referee point of view. He reffed a certain way, and we have seen how he has reffed and we need to find a way to adapt.
“I’m not talking about the card, but the style of refereeing and interpretations at scrum time, and at the maul. But that is a work in progress with Tappe (Henning, head of URC referees). We are continually working with them on how we can improve both ways - from a ref point of view, and coaching point of view.”
The Bulls are wary of Benetton, and White’s friendship with their coach Marco Bortolami is well known, so much so that White quipped that the Italian team was the one he most looked forward to facing.
He heaped a lot of praise on the Italians, who will be a tough nut to crack at home.
“If you go through their team there’s lots of Argentinians, they’ve got some Kiwis, some South Africans, they’ve got Zimbabweans.
“They’ve a really well-balanced squad and put players in certain positions that makes their squad so much stronger.
“They made the quarterfinals last year and we played really well to beat them. They recently beat the Sharks with a bonus point, and it doesn’t matter which Sharks team that played, they would’ve taken a massive amount of confidence from beating a SA team at home.
“It’s going to be a tough game, like it always is, but we just have to find a way to play our best rugby.”
VODACOM BULLS: Devon Williams; Aphiwe Dyantyi, Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Boeta Chamberlain, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw (captain), Reinhardt Ludwig, Marcell Coetzee, JF van Heerden, Cobus Wiese, Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, Alulutho Tshakweni.
REPLACEMENTS: Akker van der Merwe, Dylan Smith, Francois Klopper, Ruan Vermaak, Cameron Hanekom, Keagan Johannes, Stedman Gans, Sebastian de Klerk