Spies benched; Stegmann leads
Flank Deon Stegmann will lead the Blue Bulls when they take on Saracens in a pre-season friendly in London on Saturday.
No.8 Pierre Spies, who has been named captain for the season, will make his retuirn from a lengthy injury lay-off when he plays of the bench at Allianz Park.
It will be Spies' first match since he tore gis pectoral muscle in February last year.
As a result coach Frans Ludeke opted for Stegmann's proven leadership skills.
The Springbok flank captained the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition in the past.
Another noteworthy decision is that veteran Bok lock Victor Matfield will travel to London as part of the coaching team and not as a player and
A number of Matfield's Springbok team members - who travelled to Europe in November - will start the match.
However, flyhalf Handre Pollard will only be used of the bench, as the playmaker has just recovered from a foot injury.
Cemtre Jan Serfontein and utility back Francois Hougaard will start, as well as prop Trevor Nyakane - who missed the season-opening friendly against the Cheetahs last weekend due to a back spasm.
"We are keen for a competitive outing that will test our combinations selected for this match," Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said.
"We will be looking to give a number of subs some game time, but we'll also be aware that momentum will be important during the match."
Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Deon Stegmann (captain), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Jacques du Plessis, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements - from: Jaco Visagie, Mornè Mellett, Marcel van der Merwe, Dayan vd Westhuizen, RG Snyman, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Roelof Smith, Pierre Spies, Piet van Zyl, Rudy Paige, Handrè Pollard, William Small-Smith, Duncan Matthews, Jesse Kriel.
Date: Saturday, January 31
Venue: Allianz Park, London
Kick-off: 15.15 (17.15 SA time; 15.15 GMT)
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth (England)
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle (England), Nigel Carrick (England)
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