Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White has rotated his side ahead of their 2024/25 Vodacom United Rugby Championship fifth-round matchup with Welsh outfit, the Scarlets at the Parc y Scarlets Stadium on Friday – 18 October – evening.
The two rivals meet at 20h35 (South African Time) and the match will be broadcast live on SuperSport Rugby.
Jan-hendrik Wessels will start at prop alongside skipper, Akker van der Merwe who will be at hooker with Wilco Louw completing the front row at 3. Ruan Vermaak has a new partner at lock in Cobus Wiese whilst Kuyenzeka Xaba comes in to pair up with Reinhardt Ludwig at flank. Cameron Hanekom slots in at eight.
Zak Burger gets a start at scrumhalf with Boeta Chamberlain continuing to serve the Tshwane outfit at flyhalf. Behind the halfbacks Kurt-Lee Arendse and Sebastian de Klerk are retained at left and right wing, respectively, with Harold Vorster returning to the matchday fold at inside centre. Vorster, who was sidelined by a broken nose has recovered from his nasal repair and will pair up with Canan Moodie who will line up at outside centre. Henry Immelman will marshal the troops from fullback.
White has gone with a five-three split impact squad that will see Johan Grobbelaar, Dylan Smith, Francois Klopper, JF van Heerden, Celimpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier, Chris Barend Smit and Stedman Gans all on notice to support the charge for the win in the North West of Swansea.
The Vodacom Bulls mentor – Jake White – said about the fixture: “They [Scarlets] are the one Welsh team that has beaten us. They did not only beat Cardiff last week but drew with Benetton also, so they are a difficult team that we take seriously,”
“Every game we play as a franchise is important. It doesn’t matter whether we are playing at home or away. Whenever we wear our club jersey, there is an expectation to win. That doesn’t change whether it’s the second game on tour, we just got to make sure we play as much as we can when we run out onto the field.”
VODACOM BULLS vs SCARLETS STARTING XV: 1. Jan-hendrik Wessels, 2. Akker van der Merwe (c), 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Cobus Wiese, 6. Kuyenzeka Xaba, 7. Reinhardt Ludwig, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 9. Zak Burger, 10. Boeta Chamberlain, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. Canan Moodie, 14. Sebastian de Klerk, 15. Henry Immelman
VODACOM BULLS IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Johan Grobbelaar, 17. Dylan Smith, 18. Francois Klopper, 19. JF van Heerden, 20. Celimpilo Gumede, 21. Embrose Papier, 22. Chris Barend Smit, 23. Stedman Gans
MANAGEMENT: Jake White – Director of Rugby, Chris Rossouw – Assistant Coach, Werner Kruger – Assistant Coach, Andries Bekker – Assistant Coach, Jean Tiedt – Assistant Coach, Kennedy Tsimba – Assistant Coach, Phiwe Nomlomo – Assistant Coach, John-William Meyer – Technical Analyst, Dr. Herman Rossouw – Team Doctor, Lance Lammetjies & Darryn Berry – Physiotherapists, Andre Volsteedt – Strength & Conditioning, Yusuf Vahed – Sport Scientist, Elias Bennett – Team Manager, Simon Dyidi – Logistics Manager
