Springbok utility back and two-time World Cup winner, Willie le Roux, will make his debut for the Vodacom Bulls who return to “Fortress Loftus” looking to slay Connacht who visit the capital in round six of the 2023/24 Vodacom United Rugby Championship. Jake White’s herd has seen six rotational shuffles made to the starting XV with two more changes in personnel on the bench for the clash set for Saturday 25 November, at 17h00.

Le Roux will lace his boots and line up at fullback with the centre-pairing of David Kriel and Stedman Gans in front of him. Once more, ‘Speed Kings’ Sergeal Petersen and Sebastian de Klerk will command the herd on the wings whilst scrumhalf Zak Burger and Jaco van der Walt (flyhalf) will marshal the troops at halfback.

Up ahead, the front row is assembled with Gerhard Steenekamp at loosehead prop alongside Akker van der Merwe at hooker with Wilco Louw at tighthead prop. Behind the power-packing trio will be the lock combination of Reinhardt Ludwig and captain Ruan Nortje in the second row. Versatile flanker, Marco ‘Eskom’ van Staden returns to the fold and will start at flank alongside Elrigh Louw to his right with Nizaam Carr at eight.

Director of Rugby, Jake White has assembled an impact squad comprising five forwards Simphiwe Matanzima, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Cyle Brink and three backline players Embrose Papier, Chris Smith and young World Champion, Canan ‘Mr. Magic’ Moodie.

Gates at Loftus will open from 14h00 in the afternoon with plenty of entertainment for the entire family at the Loftus Markert on the D-field.

When asked about whether or not his selections were made with the Sharks game in mind, White commented: “I am not thinking about the Sharks game yet (taking place on Saturday 02 December 2023) because we have to get this Connacht game out the way.”

On the opposition, the Vodacom Bulls mentor said: “They are a good team. You do not go to Durban and win there, especially after they had just flown in. They are certainly one of the most in-form teams at the moment. I know Andy Friend well, and I think they have changed a few things. They are a difficult team to beat, and they beat us by playing direct rugby when we played them away from home. We saw it again when they played last week, once they get closer to the try line, they go for it.

“Their result against the Sharks will give them a big confidence coming up to Loftus. However, we must not get sucked into that but rather focus and do what we need to do from our side!”

White was beaming with excitement when asked about getting the opportunity to see Willie le Roux in action, calling for the Loftus community to back him and the incredible knowledge he brings.

“I have never coached him, but I watched him play back in the day in Boland as an under-19 and never realised he would end up being what he is now. I read on social media what people say about him and just cannot believe what I see. He has only been here for a week, but it feels like he has been here for six months, he is unbelievable. He is like having a coach there. He is very clever and extremely skilful; I cannot wait for tomorrow to see how he goes because I am sure people will see just the value that he has.”

“To all the critics, I ask that you lay it off because he is probably one of the best if not the best player to have played for the Boks and if he is not the best then he is definitely the cleverest.”

White went on to add: “The guy is unbelievable, and I cannot believe it has only been a week. Even when he was at the World Cup he was asking for the defensive and attacking plays, wanting to understand what we are doing and now that he is here it feels like he has been here for a whole season. I can now understand why he gets picked week in and week out. In one week, I can’t believe what he has been able to do. It is like having a coach there, a coach who understands the game. I did hear this from the other players before arriving here, Canan (Moodie), Kurt-Lee (Arendse), Marco (van Staden) all said he is unbelievable to play alongside and now I see it too. Hopefully everybody else sees it too.”

Asked about the Vodacom Bulls Boks returning to play, White commented: “It’s a wonderful thing for us, they returned and were asking to play. Marco was saying he can’t wait to play, so it’s great for us – the excitement and energy they bring is nice.”

Speaking on Marcell’s suspension and how that influences selection: “I went to his hearing, wanting to see how it works out, but I obviously did not get involved. It would be difficult for them (the hearing committee) to go in there and not back their referee because then that would say they do not back the ref. It is not ideal, but it is the nature of what we have to deal with now. The blooding in of young guys, a year later, has given me and this team more confidence that even if we do not stick with the same guys. It’s also good to not stick with one group of players because it doesn’t do well for the other guys not on the field.”

VODACOM BULLS vs CONNACHT STARTING XV:

1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Reinhardt Ludwig, 5. Ruan Nortje (c), 6. Marco van Staden, 7. Elrigh Louw, 8. Nizaam Carr, 9. Zak Burger, 10. Jaco van der Walt, 11. Sergeal Petersen, 12. David Kriel, 13. Stedman Gans, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Willie le Roux

VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD:

16. Simphiwe Matanzima, 17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Cyle Brink, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Canan Moodie

MANAGEMENT:

Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Werner Kruger – Assistant Coach, Gary Gold – Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker – Assistant Coach, Jean Tiedt – Assistant Coach, Kennedy Tsimba – Assistant Coach, Phiwe Nomlomo – Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Gerhard Louwrens – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies – Senior Physiotherapist, Darryn Berry – Physiotherapist, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed – Sport Scientist, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, Simon Dyidi – Logistics Manager

The Vodacom Bulls are eyeing the scalp of their round 5 hosts, Edinburgh as the South Africans look to complete their European travels with another successful showing in the 2023/24 Vodacom United Rugby Championship. The Tshwane-based outfit has already raked up 10 points on the road and will be hunting for more in the Scottish capital.

Kick-off at the Hive Stadium is set for 19h35 local time (21h35 in South Africa) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport Rugby.

There are a number of changes made to the matchday 23 with the exception of the backline which will see the services of Sergeal Petersen and Sebastian de Klerk retained on the wings with David Kriel and Stedman Gans combining at the centre once more whilst Mr. Consistency, Devon Williams continues to shine at fullback.

Scrumhalf, Embrose Papier will have Johan Goosen (flyhalf) as partner at halfback. Ahead of the Papier/Goosen duo will be a forward pack led by loose-head prop, Gerhard Steenekamp, alongside hooker, Johan Grobbelaar and tight-head prop Wilco Louw. Behind the powerful trio will be the lock combination of Ruan Vermaak alongside his co-captain and namesake, Ruan Nortje. Nortje will bind with – his co-captain – Marcell Coetzee who will run at blind-side flank with Elrigh Louw manning the openside flank position.

Cameron Hanekom will continue with his impressive start to the season running out as the herd’s dominant eighth man.

The Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White has opted to deploy a 6-2 split bench once more with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Jaco van der Walt set to feature for the men in blue for the first time this season. Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Reinhardt Ludwig, Nizaam Carr, Keagan Johannes and Cyle Brink complete the impact ensemble.

Asked about the changes made to the matchday 23, White remarked: “It’s just normal rotation. Next week we have Connacht, then Saracens and then the Sharks await, so we have a rough month ahead of us, so we would like to keep guys fresh and also give guys opportunity because they have trained hard in the pre-season,”

“We have been very fortunate that we have played 32 of the 33 players who we have here on tour and that is great because we also have to make sure that all our guys are match ready. We need to keep them fresh and it’s basically controlling what we can from our camp.”

Asked about going into the round at the top of the log, White said there is a lot for his side that is on offer. An opportunity for the Vodacom Bulls to remain at the top of the log after five rounds.

“It is nice to be top of the log but as I have said before, we have to learn from the past. Munster/Ulster were nowhere after five rounds last season, the Stormers were nowhere after round 5 in year one of the competition. It is still early days so it is not a given that you will be there at the back end of the competition if you are at the top in the early parts of the competition,”

“But it is nice, it is nice that we are there, and we are there at the end of our tour and we have gotten there rotating our squad too.”

On expectations against Edinburgh: “I am expecting a very tough game with 13 Scottish internationals in their starting XV, they have massive amounts of experience. The return of Jamie Ritchie will also be a massive boost for them who has been away after the World Cup. They are generally always there or thereabout in the top eight, they are not a team that surprises everybody by finishing in the top part of the draw,”

“It’s going to be a tough game for us considering we are into our fourth week of the tour which is always tough because people start making plans about going back to South Africa. So there are a lot of things we are going to have to make sure we get right tomorrow.”

Asked about coming up against Sean Everitt who was at Loftus at the end of last season, the Vodacom Bulls mentor said: “I worked with Sean at the Sharks and when he was with us, so I know him very well. He is a very good coach who has been around for a while. Good coaches are the ones who can adapt and I think it will be interesting and I look forward to it.”

VODACOM BULLS vs EDINBURGH RUGBY STARTING XV: 1. Gerhard Steenekamp, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Ruan Nortje (c), 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. Elrigh Louw, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Johan Goosen, 11. Sergeal Petersen, 12. David Kriel, 13. Stedman Gans, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Devon Williams

VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Simphiwe Matanzima, 17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 24. Cyle Brink

** Brink is player 23 but will run out in jersey 24 because of size constraints

MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Gary Gold – Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker – Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Herman Rossouw – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies – Senior Physiotherapist, Darryn Berry – Physiotherapist, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed – Sport Scientist, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, Simon Dyidi – Logistics Manager

Loose forward, Celimpilo ‘Mpilo’ Gumede has been handed his debut for the Vodacom Bulls this weekend when the Tshwane-based franchise visits Cardiff Rugby at Arms Park in Wales. Gumede – a former SA Schools and Junior Bok – will lace up his boots at eight, bringing his explosive game to the pack that is led by an unchanged front row, with Nizaam Carr captaining the side in their fourth round 2023/24 Vodacom United Rugby Championship outing.

Carr will start at blindside flank whilst Cyle Brink will be on the openside with the duo of Reinhardt Ludwig and Janko Swanepoel completing the second row as the lock pairing. Embrose Papier (scrumhalf) and Chris Smith (flyhalf) will direct traffic flow at halfback with an unchanged backline behind them. Sergeal Petersen who had an impressive debut will be at left wing whilst his energetic counterpart Sebastian de Klerk will be on the right of the park. David Kriel will be hoping to add more tries to his tally from inside centre with Stedman Gans on his outside with Devon Williams at fullback.

Director of Rugby, Jake White has gone with a 6-2 bench split which will see Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom sit on standby for forward pack duty with Keagan Johannes and Johan Goosen the optional backline picks on the waiting list for duty.

This clash in the South of Wales is set for today, 10 November 2023, with kick off scheduled for 21h35 South African time and will be broadcast LIVE on SuperSport Rugby.

On the changes made to the matchday 23, White remarked: “I’ve got to try something different. We know Marcell (Coetzee) and Elrigh (Louw) play all the time and Cameron (Hanekom) we have seen. Elrigh has played every single game for eighty minutes, so the changes give us a chance to see some fresh legs. We signed Mpilo Gumede and Cyle (Brink) played a lot of rugby last year with this team last season and so did Nizaam (Carr) so we are trying new combinations but we do have Cameron and Elrigh on the bench so we could finish with those two as well,”

“To allow players to have rhythm, I’ll look to have some guys a couple of opportunities to get some minutes under their belts, learning the combinations and then look to change with some fresh legs. We are only in game four of the tournament, so we have some time to play around but this is a good position to be in where you can have three really good hookers to choose from or other combinations at the back.”

On Gumede making his debut: “I hope we get to see him as we did against Namibia. He was outstanding against them, and he looked like the real deal for me. He is a good athlete, he is big, and he is a great ball carrier with great feel,”

“I don’t think it is about he plays but how that combination looks. Him, Cyle and Nizaam are nice and balanced with skillset that complement one another,”

“Without putting pressure on him I just want him to do what he did on that game against Namibia. He had a great impact with great presence, and he offers a lot. Tall guy with presence at the back of the line out as well and as I said he has a bit of everything so he must just go out and enjoy the game on Friday.”

On the strong forward-packed impact squad, White remarked: “Look it is something that we have that allows us a different option of forwards and also it might be a game where it is on 4G and on a week three of a tour so it is a bit of a bit of gut feel that we try it and see how it works out for us,”

“Not forgetting that Keagan Johannes who plays at 9, has played 10 before as well and fullback, paired up with a guy like Johan Goosen who has also played centre, fullback and flyhalf so we are probably covered with two backs who can play most positions in the backline.”

Speaking about their opponents this week, the Vodacom Bulls mentor said: “They have a new coach with Dai Young having left but their new head coach has been with the club and knows the players. One thing we do know is that they play on a 4G pitch, and they caught us on the tempo of the game the last time we were here, and I must say that the opening 20 minutes was very quick so I am sure it will be the same this time around,”

“There could be an element of surprise in that there is a new group of players and new coaches but I do know Welsh rugby and the style of play so I do not think they will go too far away from what they know, and which has been part of their DNA for a long time.”

Asked about how conditions may impact the game, White commented: “The conditions do have an impact on the game. If we look at the opening game on tour, we thought we could play with the wind, and it didn’t work out quite well for us. In Parma, we played with the wind and that helped us a lot. We will have a look at what the weather is like when we are in the park and see how we use that to our advantage.”

VODACOM BULLS vs CARDIFF RUGBY STARTING XV:

1. Simphiwe Matanzima, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Reinhardt Ludwig, 5. Janko Swanepoel, 6. Nizaam Carr (c), 7. Cyle Brink, 8. Mpilo Gumede, 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Chris Smith, 11. Sergeal Petersen, 12. David Kriel, 13. Stedman Gans, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Devon Williams

VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD:

16. Johan Grobbelaar, 17. Gerhard Steenekamp, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Ruan Nortje, 20. Elrigh Louw, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Johan Goosen, 24. Cameron Hanekom

** Hanekom is player 23 but will run out in jersey 24 because of size constraints

MANAGEMENT:

Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Gary Gold – Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker – Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Herman Rossouw – Team Doctor, Lance Lemmetjies – Senior Physiotherapist, Darryn Berry – Physiotherapist, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed – Sport Scientist, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, Simon Dyidi – Logistics Manager