Bryan Habana will be warming the bench when the Vodacom Bulls face the Crusaders in Pretoria on Friday in a match the home side have to win to stay in contention for a playoff position.
Habana swaps places with Akona Ndungane, who earned a break in the last weeks. The former has played in every match this year for the full 80 minutes and coach Heyneke Meyer had already indicated earlier that he intends giving the flyer a break.
Except for the inclusion of Ndungane, the side remains unchanged.
Meyer still maintains that the playoffs might still be a bridge too far for the the Bulls and for his side to be involved in the last two weeks, they will have to win their remaining matches against the Crusaders and Stormers. Then the Crusaders will have to take care of the Brumbies in the final week.
With the Crusaders’ surprising defeat against the Stormers over the weekend, the visitors will not rest their star players again, as a home semi-final is on the line. Meyer rightly pointed out that the Crusaders have not been the most dominant team in the competition for no reason and their ability to show character when the chips are down, is one of the reasons for this.
For the Bulls to beat the Crusaders as they had done last year, they will have to deliver 80 minutes’ play of the same standard as the first half hour against the Sharks in their previous match.
VODACOM BULLS
15 Jaco van der Westhuyzen
14 Akona Ndungane
13 JP Nel
12 Wynand Olivier
11 Frikkie Welsh
10 Morné Steyn
9 Fourie du Preez
8 Pedrie Wannenburg
7 Tim Dlulane
6 Jacques Cronje
5 Victor Matfield
4 Bakkies Botha
3 Danie Thiart
2 Gary Botha
1 Wessel Roux
Bryan Habana will be warming the bench when the Vodacom Bulls face the Crusaders in Pretoria on Friday in a match the home side have to win to stay in contention for a playoff position.
