Hendricks to lead strong Vodacom Bulls team in Carling Currie Cup opener

Cornal Hendricks will captain a strong Vodacom Bulls team in their opening match of the side’s Carling Currie Cup defence when they take on the Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium on Friday night.

Vodacom Bulls’ Carling Currie Cup head coach, Gert Smal, has selected a strong starting XV and an exciting group of replacements on the bench.

“We have put in some good, hard work over the past few weeks in preparation for the Carling Currie Cup, which promises to be a tough competition yet again this season. We are looking forward to seeing all of that work come together this weekend,” said Smal.

“The Pumas, particularly on their own turf in Mbombela, have always proven to be a tough opposition. We have no doubts that our match on Friday will be another hard-fought battle to kick-off the tournament.”

The match will kick off at 19h00 and will be televised on SuperSport.

 The Vodacom Bulls team to take on Pumas is:

Forwards (1-8): Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Jaco Labuschagne, Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha.

Backline (9-15): Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Richard Kriel, Cornal Hendricks (Capt), David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Kurt-Lee Arendse.

Replacements (16-23): Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Lizo Gqoboka, Robert Hunt, Sintu Manjezi, WJ Steenkamp, Zak Burger, Juan Mostert, Stedman Gans.