PRETORIA – Blue Bulls coach John Mitchell has decided to wait until match-day to ascertain the fitness of lock Aston Fortuin before finally deciding on his starting XV for Saturday’s Currie Cup semi-final showdown against the Sharks in Durban.
Fortuin is battling with an ankle injury and should he not recover in time, Jannes Kirsten will take his place.
For the rest, Mitchell has stuck with the starting side that qualified the Bulls for the playoffs with an emphatic bonus-point victory over the Pumas last week.
Centre Burger Odendaal will captain the side at Kings Park, while due to special semi-final rules that allow for an extra prop on the bench, John-Roy Jenkinson will wear the No 23 jersey.
Blue Bulls team
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Burger Odendaal (captain), 12 JT Jackson, 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Aston Fortuin/Jannes Kirsten, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Bench:16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Jannes Kirsten/Eli Snyman, 19 Jano Venter, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Duncan Matthews, 23 John-Roy Jenkinson.