Matfield back in charge

Victor Matfield will take over the captaincy from the suspended Flip van der Merwe when the Bulls face the Force.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has made five changes to his starting line-up for the clash in Perth on Saturday as they look to pick up their first victory overseas this season.

Jürgen Visser has recovered from a foot injury to take his place at fullback, while a fit again Akona Ndungane returns on the wing. Francois Hougaard will get another chance in the No 9 jersey, replacing the injured Piet van Zyl at the back of the scrum.

Up front, Paul WIllemse fills in for the suspended Van der Merwe and Bongi Mbonambi will be given a first start at hooker. Bandise Maku will make his return from the bench.

'We have to get back to winning ways and this is a final opportunity to turn our tour into a positive. If we can bag a win here and add the losing bonus points we collected earlier on tour, the reward would justify the hard work we have put in,' Ludeke said.

Bulls – 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Grant Hattingh, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Dean Greyling.
Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Morné Mellett, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Wimpie van der Walt, 20 Jacques Engelbrecht, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Ulrich Beyers.

Super Rugby teams (Round 11)

Photo: Barry Aldworth/Backpage Pix

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