Bulls welcome back Nortje and Matanzima for URC clash against Zebre

Bulls coach Jake White has included captain and lock Ruan Nortje and front rower Simphiwe Matanzima in his squad for the United Rugby Championship clash against Zebre Parma at Loftus on Saturday. 

Matanzima and Nortje, who have been sidelined by illness and injury respectively, have regained full match fitness and will offer options as part of the six-two split from the bench. 

Also available for this match is flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain who is one of the two backline players on standby duty alongside scrumhalf Embrose Papier.

White has also put some of his experienced forwards on the bench in the form of Akker van der Merwe, Wilco Louw, Marco van Staden and Nizaam Carr to join Nortje. 

His starting 15 sees a front-row combination featuring Alulutho Tshakweni, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Mornay Smith who did duty in the last-gasp win over Leinster last weekend. 

Lock duo Ruan Vermaak and JF van Heerden have been retained and the two flankers in the match day squad are co-captain Marcell Coetzee and Jannes Kirsten.

Celimpilo ka Gumede starts at No 8 against the side from Emilia-Romagna and Zak Burger starts at scrumhalf, partnering Keagan Johannes who has been retained at flyhalf. 

Stravino “Rocketman” Jacobs has a new partner in Sergeal Petersen and the two will get a run at left and right wing with Harold Vorster and David Kriel pairing up in the midfield.

Devon Williams provides cover at fullback with his stealthy left boot. 

Elsewhere, Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen named an unchanged starting line-up for the clash against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night in a match where Springbok bruiser Ruan Venter will make his 50th international appearance for the franchise. 

Van Rooyen’s men will be hoping to put last week’s nail-biting 20-17 loss to Cardiff behind them, with a renewed focus on a play-off finish in the competition. 

Speaking from Glasgow this week, tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye believes capitalising on opportunities at key moments could have a huge impact on the end result at the Scotstoun Stadium. 

“Last week was a missed opportunity, we reviewed our game, and we played really well,” said Ntlabakanye. 

“Just being clinical at the finishing stages, that’s been a work-on this week — finishing opportunities when we get into those zones.” 

Known as the “Jozi Bulldozer”, Ntlabakanye believes adapting to conditions in Europe is key, especially when facing a championship side such as Glasgow at home. 

“Here in Europe it’s a bit different, there’s a lot of things that factor into the end result, in that if you don’t really capitalise, the home team knows how to play the conditions. So we need to be better in that aspect,” he concluded. 

There is only one change on the bench which sees Rynhardt Jonker replacing Henco van Wyk.

Bulls against Zebre: 1. Alulutho Tshakweni, 2. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 3. Mornay Smith, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. JF van Heerden, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. Jannes Kirsten, 8. Celimpilo ka Gumede, 9. Zak Burger, 10. Keagan Johannes, 11. Stravino Jacobs, 12. Harold Vorster, 13. David Kriel, 14. Sergeal Petersen, 15. Devon Williams 

Replacements: 16. Simphiwe Matanzima, 17. Akker van der Merwe, 18. Wilco Louw, 19. Ruan Nortje, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Nizaam Carr, 22. Embrose Papier, 23. Boeta Chamberlain 

Lions against Glasgow Warriors: 1. Juan Schoeman, 2. PJ Botha, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 4. Ruben Schoeman, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 6. JC Pretorius, 7. Ruan Venter, 8. Francke Horn (c), 9. Nico Steyn, 10. Gianni Lombard, 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 12. Marius Louw, 13. Manuel Rass, 14. Richard Kriel, 15. Quan Horn 

Replacements: 16. Franco Marais, 17. SJ Kotze, 18. RF Schoeman, 19. Ruan Delport, 20. Siba Qoma, 21. Layton Horn, 22. Jarod Cairns, 23. Rynhardt Jonker