Cape Town – Stedman Gans has finally been reunited with Cornal Hendricks and the Bulls No 13 jersey for Wednesday’s Currie Cup clash with the Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld (5.45pm kickoff).
Gans has had to watch mainly from the sidelines since returning to the Bulls set-up from the Blitzboks’ Tokyo Olympics campaign last year.
The former Springbok Sevens captain starred for the Bulls in previous Currie Cup seasons, but hasn’t seen much action in the United Rugby Championship over the last few months.
Gans has had a few cameos off the bench, but now gets a chance to re-establish his midfield combination with the experienced Hendricks, who will also captain the Bulls against the Cheetahs.
Coach Gert Smal again picked a strong Currie Cup side, with URC regulars such as David Kriel, Hendricks, Chris Smith, Janko Swanepoel and Gerhard Steenekamp all starting.
There is also a new name in the unbeaten Bulls team in the shape of teenage flank Cameron Hanekom, who will feature alongside WJ Steenkamp and Muller Uys in the loose trio.
There is even a Springbok on the bench in the shape of loosehead prop Lizo Gqoboka, while there are also a couple of exciting youngsters among the replacements, such as Jaco Labuschagne, Keagan Johannes and FC du Plessis.
“The team had a week’s break after the opening two matches of the Currie Cup season, where we have had an opportunity to work on areas that we felt we needed to improve and those we felt we could further enhance where we thought we did well in the matches against the Pumas and Western Province,” Smal said.
“We now have the tough task of facing a dangerous Cheetahs team whom we know will give us a good challenge. We expect the side from Bloemfontein to come to Loftus Versfeld highly motivated, and they will give us both a physical and running game on Wednesday night.”
Bulls Team
15 David Kriel 14 Sibongile Novuka 13 Stedman Gans 12 Cornal Hendricks (captain) 11 Stravino Jacobs 10 Chris Smith 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren 8 Muller Uys 7 Cameron Hanekom 6 WJ Steenkamp 5 Janko Swanepoel 4 Reinhardt Ludwig 3 Robert Hunt 2 Schalk Erasmus 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Joe van Zyl 17 Lizo Gqoboka 18 Sebastian Lombard 19 Raynard Roets 20 Jaco Labuschagne 21 Keagan Johannes 22 FC du Plessis 23 Richard Kriel.
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