Jaco could get a run on the wing

The Bulls are likely to call on Springbok discard Jaco van der Westhuyzen to remedy one of the glaring weaknesses in their backline in this weekend's match against the Brumbies.

Van der Westhuyzen's impact in last weekend's game against the Chiefs when he came on in the second half has given coach Heyneke Meyer the confidence to consider including the former Springbok flyhalf on the wing and give Akona Ndungane a much-needed rest this weekend.

Ndungane has been out of form in the past few games and Meyer believes he is "trying too hard" to regain the form that made him a Springbok.

On the other wing, the match-winning try scored by Bryan Habana has probably saved his place in the line-up as this Bok winger too is far below his best and cost the Bulls two tries against the Chiefs.

Habana has struggled to regain the form that made him a nominee for the IRB player of the year in 2004 and is a shadow of the player Bulls fans know him to be.

He still is a class act on the attack, but too often shoots out of the defensive alignment looking for the intercept and opposition teams have learnt to exploit this.

In the other likely changes against the Brumbies, Meyer is also looking for a greater tactical advantage with the boot and to this end, Derick Hougaard expected to return to the starting line-up at the expense of Morné Steyn.

Steyn struggled against the Chiefs and the Bulls will perhaps to this time use him in the later part of the game as an impact substitute. Hougaard is over his thigh injury and kicked well when he returned last week. The Bulls have also indicated that they are looking to play more tactically to accentuate their advantage in the pack and against a team like the Brumbies, who are dangerous out wide, this could be an important aspect to the game.

The final probable change to the team to be named on Wednesday could be the return of Pedrie Wannenburg to the starting line-up - most likely at the expense of Anton Leonard. The loose trio have not been functioning at their peak in the past few games and have been beaten to the breakdown by the opposition any number of times. Meyer is hoping that Wannenburg will be the answer to this particular problem.

Possible Bulls team:

Johan Roets; Jaco van der Westhuyzen, JP Nel, Wayne Julies, Bryan Habana; Derick Hougaard, Fourie du Preez; Pedrie Wannenburg/Anton Leonard, Wikus van Heerden/Pedrie Wannenburg, Danie Rossouw; Victor Matfield (captain), Bakkies Botha; Danie Thiart, Gary Botha, Gurthro Steenkamp.