Cape Town – Utility back David Kriel will get a chance to prove himself at United Rugby Championship level once again after being included in the Bulls starting line-up for Friday’s clash against the Ospreys.
Kriel will wear the No 14 jersey at the Swansea.com Stadium following an impressive performance in that position in last week’s Currie Cup win over the Lions at Loftus Versfeld.
Having previously been a stalwart fullback for the Bulls, Kriel has missed out on the URC side in recent months, with Kurt-Lee Arendse making a thrilling transition to the No 15 jersey.
But even after Arendse sustained a fractured thumb against Benetton, Bulls boss Jake White opted to shift Canan Moodie from right wing to fullback, as he felt the youngster offered a similar threat on attack to Arendse.
Moodie didn’t have his best game against Glasgow, but was much more confident against a virtual Lions URC side last weekend, and he will take on the Ospreys defence with ball-in-hand on Friday night (9.10pm SA time kickoff) after being selected at No 15 again on Thursday.
🚨 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) May 19, 2022
Your Vodacom Bulls Team to take on Ospreys tomorrow night 💥@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/QEjjw8NSII
With Lionel Mapoe left behind in South Africa, Cornal Hendricks will partner Harold Vorster in midfield, while Zak Burger has got the nod at scrumhalf ahead of Embrose Papier, with Keagan Johannes missing out.
On the bench, youngster Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been preferred to veteran Bismarck du Plessis as the back-up hooker, and the former SA Under-20 front-rower will look to make a big impact in the second half.
The Ospreys also announced their match-day squad on Thursday, and their side is headlined by the British and Irish Lions lock pair Alun Wyn Jones and Adam Beard, while George North will run out at outside centre.
Rhys Webb will lead the team from scrumhalf, and his halfback partner will be Wales flyhalf Gareth Anscombe.
The Bulls will be going all out for a bonus-point victory to end up as high as possible on the URC log, but their quarter-final ranking will be decided by other results over the weekend.
Teams For Swansea
Bulls: 15 Canan Moodie 14 David Kriel 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 Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Robert Hunt 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 Arno Botha 21 Embrose Papier 22 Juan Mostert 23 Stedman Gans.
Ospreys: 15 Michael Collins 14 Luke Morgan 13 George North 12 Owen Watkin 11 Keelan Giles 10 Gareth Anscombe 9 Rhys Webb (captain) 8 Morgan Morris 7 Jac Morgan 6 Will Griffiths 5 Alun Wyn Jones 4 Adam Beard 3 Tomas Francis 2 Dewi Lake 1 Gareth Thomas.
Bench: 16 Sam Parry 17 Nicky Smith 18 Tom Botha 19 Bradley Davies 20 Dan Lydiate 21 Harri Morgan 22 Stephen Myler 23 Mat Protheroe.
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