Big names on Bulls' bench for Leinster clash
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White has revealed his team to face Leinster in their United Rugby Championship semifinal in Dublin on Friday.
White has opted for consistency by selecting the same starting line-up that beat the Sharks in last weekend’s quarterfinal clash at Loftus Versfeld.
The side from Tshwane has made four changes to their bench. The experienced Springbok hooker, Bismarck du Plessis will provide cover from the bench, alongside loosehead prop Simphiwe Matanzima and loose-forward, WJ Steenkamp.
The Bulls will also see the return of electrifying back, Kurt-Lee Arendse, who will be on the bench this week after being sidelined by a finger injury over the past few weeks.
The South Africans are expecting a tough challenge against a Leinster side that has dominated during the round-robin stages, and also showed their intentions of dominating the knockout stages with a forceful performance last weekend when they defeated Glasgow Warriors in the quarterfinal.
"Leinster is a phenomenal side that is very well-coached and is full of international players," said White.
"You look at their bench and they have players who have more caps for the club than the entire Bulls team combined. So, we are definitely up against a quality side, and it will be a great challenge at the RDS Arena."
Bulls: 15 Canan Moodie, 14 David Kriel, 13 Cornal Hendricks, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Izak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Mantanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Date: Friday, June 10
Venue: RDS Arena, Dublin
Kick-off: 19.35 (20.35 SA time; 18.35 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Lipperini (Italy)