The Bulls name their 40-man squad for Super Rugby

A blend of youth and experience is the name of the game for the Bulls after naming their 40-man squad for the season.

Where there's forward experience in Josh Strauss and Juandre Kruger‚ there's the necessary freshness of a Muller Uys and a Ruan Nortje.

With the attritional nature of Super Rugby‚ squads have to be big to manage the inevitable injury demands of the long tournament.

The Bulls though are highly likely to call on a similar starting 15 to what they had last season‚ even though they'll be without the likes of RG Snyman and Handre Pollard.

That Rugby World Cup winning Springbok duo have overseas contracts‚ along with the talented Jason Jenkins and Lood de Jager.

The Bulls will have a new lock combination‚ but in Kruger‚ they'll have a seasoned campaigner to guide the youngsters.

With Morne Steyn back from his European sojourn‚ Manie Libbok will have competition and guidance on the same wavelength.

Chris Smith adds to the Bulls' flyhalf depth while the interesting name of youngster Richard Kriel has been added to the squad as an outside back.

Except for Pollard's absence‚ there's not much change to the Bulls' back division which will be led by team captain Burger Odendaal.

The Bulls will open their Super Rugby account with two away South African derbies against the Sharks next week and the Stormers on February 8.

Those games will be followed by three homes games against the Blues (February 22)‚ the Jaguares (February 29) and the Highlanders (March 7) before a four-match Australasian tour that'll see them face the Reds‚ Waratahs‚ Hurricanes and Chiefs.

Bulls 2020 squad

Forwards:

Simphiwe Matanzima‚ Gerhard Steenekamp‚ Lizo Gqoboka‚ Corniel Els‚ Jaco Visagie‚ Muller Uys‚ Johan Grobbelaar‚ Louis van der Westhuizen‚ Trevor Nyakane‚ Wiehahn Herbst‚ Dayan van der Westhuizen‚ Andries Ferreira‚ Ryno Pieterse‚ Ian Groenewald‚ Juandré Kruger‚ Ruan Nortje‚ Tim Agaba‚ Marco van Staden‚ Jeandré Rudolph‚ Ruan Steenkamp‚ Abongile Nonkontwana‚ Wian Vosloo‚ Josh Strauss.

Backs:

Ivan van Zyl‚ Embrose Papier‚ Marco Jansen van Vuren‚ Morné Steyn‚ Chris Smith‚ Manie Libbok‚ Rosko Specman‚ Divan Rossouw‚ Burger Odendaal‚ Dylan Sage‚ Franco Naude‚ Cornal Hendricks‚ Nafi Tuitavake‚ Marnus Potgieter‚ Johnny Kotze‚ Jade Stighling‚ Warrick Gelant‚ Richard Kriel.

Bulls Management 2020

Head coach: Pote Human

Backs: Chris Rossouw

Defence: Pine Pienaar

Scrums: Daan Human

Technical analyst: John William Meyer

Team manager: Elias Bennett

Team doctor: Dr Herman Rossouw

Physiotherapists: Lance Lemmetjies‚ Pieter du Plessis

Strength and Conditioning: Jacus Coetzee

Team psychologist: Dr Jannie Botha

Team logistics: Simon Dyidi