Duane Vermeulen of Ulster on the attack during the United Rugby Championship 2021/2022 match between the Stormers and Ulster held at Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town on 26 March 2022. Picture: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
Pretoria - The Bulls know that they cannot just look to mark their former captain Duane Vermeulen, as the rest of the Ulster side have also made a big impression in the United Rugby Championship this season.
The Belfast outfit will run out at Loftus Versfeld on Satuurday (2pm kickoff) hoping to build on last week’s 23-20 defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town, and they have brought in some heavy artillery to stop the high-flying Bulls in their tracks.
Apart from Vermeulen at No 8, Ulster coach Dan Mcfarland has recalled captain and lock Iain Henderson, who missed the Stormers game after being on Six Nations duty with Ireland.
There are two new flanks in Irish international Jordi Murphy and Nick Timoney, while another Test player in Ian Madigan is at flyhalf alongside youngster Nathan Doak.
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There is a fresh centre pairing in James Hume and Luke Marshall, so there are different threats that the Bulls will have to counter this week compared to the Stormers, who were fortunate to claim the victory after Callum Reid’s attempt to score was incorrectly ruled out by the match officials.
The Bulls, who are on a fourmatch winning streak, also have some reinforcements, with big No 8 Elrigh Louw the most important figure back from Covid-19.
“We know how good Duane is – he was the Man of the Match in the World Cup final. He’s gone to Ulster and they all sing his praises of how much he has added to their game, and the experience he’s brought to their pack,” White said yesterday.
“But what is important is that it’s not about individuals, but how the team plays.”
TEAMS FOR LOFTUS VERSFELD
Bulls: 15 Kurt-lee Arendse 14 Canan Moodie 13 Cornal Hendricks 12 Harold Vorster 11 Madosh Tambwe 10 Chris Smith 9 Zak Burger 8 Elrigh Louw 7 Cyle Brink 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Walt Steenkamp 3 Mornay Smith 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenkamp.
Bench: 16 Joe van Zyl 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Robert Hunt 19 Reinhardt Ludwig 20 Arno Botha 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Morné Steyn 23 Lionel Mapoe.
Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry 14 Ben Moxham 13 James Hume 12 Luke Marshall 11 Ethan Mcilroy 10 Ian Madigan 9 Nathan Doak 8 Duane Vermeulen 7 Nick Timoney 6 Jordi Murphy 5 Iain Henderson (captain) 4 Kieran Treadwell 3 Marty Moore 2 Brad Roberts 1 Andrew Warwick.
Bench: 16 Tom Stewart 17 Eric O’sullivan 18 Tom O’toole 19 Mick Kearney 20 Matty Rea 21 John Cooney 22 Marcus Rea 23 Stewart Moore.