Matfield plunges first into Shark Tank
Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:02
Coach Frans Ludeke has included all the available Springboks in the Blue Bulls starting line-up for Saturday's Absa Currie Cup match against the Sharks in Durban.
The Springbok captain Victor Matfield, who will make his first Currie Cup appearance for the Blue Bulls in almost two years, takes over the captaincy from Wikus van Heerden and he will scrum in the second row alongside his Bok teammate Danie Rossouw.
Van Heerden will play in a loose trio with Deon Stegmann and returning Bok Pierre Spies (at No.8), while Fourie du Preez is back in the light blue No.9 jersey.
Other news is that the International Rugby Board (IRB) Player of the Year, Bryan Habana, has recovered from his hamstring injury and he will play in a back three with Tiger Mangweni and fellow Bok Akona Ndungane.
Ludeke made it clear that the policy of the Blue Bulls is that once a player comes back from Springbok duty, he is back in the starting XV and the players knew from the start of the season that Matfield will captain the team on his return.
Ludeke made a few other changes to the team that walloped Western Province and these alterations are mostly due to the team's rotation policy in order to keep at the players sharp.
Marius Delport is back at outside centre to partner Wynand Olivier, while Werner Kruger gets a chance to start at tighthead prop.
As a result of this Gurthrö Steenkamp will be one of five forwards on the bench while Jaco Engels will start in a front row at the side of Kruger and Derick Kuün.
Pedrie Wannenburg together with Wilhelm Steenkamp gets a well deserved break, while Chiliboy Ralepelle moves onto the bench in the place of Bandise Maku.
Blue Bulls: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Marius Delport, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Wikus van Heerden, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield
(captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Jaco Engels.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Juandré Kruger, 19 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Dewald Potgieter,
Date: Saturday, September 6
Venue: Absa Stadium, Durban
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Touch judges: Theuns Jonker, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
