Bulls with all to do against Ospreys

• Published date: 27 April 2024
• Author: Mike Greenaway mike.greenaway@inl.co.za
• Publication title: Independent on Saturday

Coach Jake White has made eight changes to the team that lost to Munster at the same venue last week, with Elrigh Louw captaining the side and moving to flank from No 8 to accommodate the returning Cameron Hanekom

Chris Smith starts at flyhalf for the suspended Johan Goosen and links up with the in-form Embrose Papier. Smith will be covered off the bench by Jaco van der Walt, and Zak Burger backs up Papier.

Loftus fans will be pleased to see old boy Jannes Kirsten making a long-awaited return after moving back to Pretoria from England’s Exeter Chiefs. He has been back in town for almost a year, but has been injured.

Canan Moodie shifts from outside centre to right wing, with Sebastian de Klerk dropping out of the squad. David Kriel and Harold Vorster will form a new midfield pairing.

Nizaam Carr is at No 6 to complete a powerful lose trio with Louw and Hanekom

In the tight five, Ruan Vermaak and Reinhardt Ludwig form the second row, with an unchanged front row in Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw.

The Ospreys are six points behind their hosts and a win on the Highveld would be their second on tour and a major boost to their play-off ambitions.

For the South Africans, a victory would help them control their fate in the competition and White says their focus is on exactly that.

“We still have our destiny in our own hands. We still have three games at home until the end of this campaign. Every game has to be like a final because there are many teams still fighting for a place in the...