Brummer flyhalf against WP
15 July 2009 (12:58)
The coach of the Vodacom Blue Bulls Frans Ludeke has selected Francois Brummer at flyhalf for Saturday’s clash at Loftus Versfeld against the Western Province.
Brummer is a product of Hoërskool Waterkloof and has been playing for the Blue Bulls’ junior teams since his schooldays. He is the current SA under 20 flyhalf and first tasted Currie Cup rugby on Saturday against the Lions when he replaced Burton Francis during the first half.
Ludeke said at the weekly press conference which was held at Loftus on Wednesday that Francis isn’t eligible for the weekend’s match due to injury and that is why they opted for Brummer at flyhalf.
“It took Francois a few minutes to find his feet, but he did very well in the latter parts of the match and I was quite impressed by him. He finished strong and I am confident that he will be able to do the job for us against Province.”
The other changes in the starting XV is at fullback with Tiger Mangweni replacing the injured Zane Kirchner and the big Springbok prop Gurthrö Steenkamp is also back in the mix after he had a couple of days off.
Ludeke opted for a five/two bench which includes an entire front row in Jaco Engels, Bandise Maku and Frik Kirsten with the under 19 flyhalf JC Roos as one of two backline reserves.
Roos played Craven week rugby for the Bulls in 2008 and was quite influential for Tukkies earlier this year in the Varsity Cup. He is a goal kicker of note and also capable of playing at fullback and after lengthy discussion the coaches decided to go with Roos and not the under 21’s flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff.
Ludeke said that Boshoff carried an ankle injury throughout the week and that was one of the main reasons why Roos was selected on the bench.
Vodacom Blue Bulls: Tiger Mangweni; Gerhard van den Heever, Jaco Pretorius, Wynand Olivier, Francois Hougaard; Francois Brummer, Heini Adams; Dries van Schalkwyk, Dewald Potgieter, Jacques Burger, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Flip van der Merwe, Werner Kruger, Derick Kuün (captain), Gurthrö Steenkamp. Reserves: Bandise Maku, Frik Kirsten, Jaco Engels, Fudge Mabeta, Gerrit-Jan van Velze, JC Roos, Marius Delport.
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