Bulls ring the changes for PAU showdown

Beleaguered Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann has rung the changes - making 11 of them as his side go for broke in their final Investec Champions Cup clash against French side PAU on Friday night.

While there are plenty of scenarios to look at for qualification for the playoff rounds, the bottom line is a victory should be enough to see the Bulls into the Round of 16 - but for a team on a seven-match losing streak that W is all they are focusing on right now

Ackermann has rolled the dice with some interesting selections - including winger Sebastian de Klerk at 13, while Springbok speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse returns for the first time since his long concussion break that saw him last play on the Bok tour of Europe in November.

Arendse’s return is a massive plus for the Bulls and his x-factor with De Klerk is an interesting combination that, if it goes well, can be deadly.

Along with veteran Bok Willie le Roux at the back, 19-year old Cheswill Jooste, the SA under-20 sensation, also gets a start on the other wing.

Among the 11 changes to the team, seven are in the forwards, while the bench has been rotated a lot.

There is no Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar or Gerhard Steenekamp - the first two being rested for return against Edinburgh in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship next week and the latter recovering from an operation on his finger.

Captain Ruan Nortje is also rested and will play off the bench with Marcell Coetzee back on the flank as captain. Cobus Wiese is also on the bench with Ruan Vermaak and Reinhardt Ludwig the two starting locks this week.

Coetzee partners Celimpilo Gumede and Nizaam Carr with Jeandre Rudolph and Marco van Staden on the bench.

Van Staden is listed as hooker, but Ackermann explained that Akker van der Merwe is likely to play 60 minutes if all goes well, and that a decision on the day will be made whether Jan-Hendrik Wessels or Van Staden moves to hooker in the final quarter. Van Staden has deputised at hooker for the Springboks in the World Cup.

Ackermann said the team haven’t discussed the scenarios for qualification, but at the end of the game they could qualify for the Round of 16, or drop down to the EPCR Challenge Cup or be out of Europe altogether.

The Bulls are currently sixth on the log with three teams- Bordeaux-Begles, Northampton Saints and Bristol Bears - already qualified. PAU are fourth and Scarlets fifth. The top four qualify for the playoffs while the fifth-placed team qualifies for the EPCR Challenge Cup. The team in sixth goes no further in either competition.

VODACOM BULLS v PAU

1. Jan-Hendrik Wessels

2. Akker van der Merwe

3. Mornay Smith

4. Ruan Vermaak

5. Reinhardt Ludwig

6. Marcell Coetzee (Captain)

7. Mpilo Gumede

8. Nizaam Carr

9. Zak Burger

10. Handre Pollard

11. Kurt-Lee Arendse