Blue Bulls coach Pote Human has moved Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane from tighthead to loosehead prop Saturday’s Currie Cup semi-final against Western Province at Newlands.
Nyakane takes the place of the injured Matthys Basson, while Dayan van der Westhuizen comes in to the side at tighthead.
Duncan Mathews comes back in to the side at the expense of Jamba Ulengo on the right wing, while Dylan Sage replaces Franco Naude at 13 as Johnny Kotze moves from outside to inside centre. It will be Sage’s first appearance since joining the Bulls from the Blitzboks.
Bulls head coach Pote Human said: “We had to take a good, hard look at ourselves and the efforts we dished up last weekend. That performance was not who we want to be as a team.
“We get the ideal opportunity to rectify that effort a week later and although it is in Cape Town this time around, it creates a great opportunity for us to show what we really capable of. We have not won the Currie Cup in a while and there is no doubt that we have the ability in this squad to do so this year.
“We played some proper rugby already this year, but then came really poor performances like last weekend. We know what we are capable of, so the challenge will be to deliver our best effort of the season.”
Blue Bulls captain Hanro Liebenberg said they could redeem themselves with a win at Newlands.
“WP are the favourites and rightly so. They are not undefeated for nothing so far. But no team is unbeatable and we have the belief that we can beat anyone in this competition. The challenge for us is to go and show that on Saturday. We are keen to go out there and shock the home crowd,” said Liebenberg.
Blue Bulls: 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Dylan Sage, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Marco van Staden, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Hendre Stassen, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Trevor Nyakane
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Frans van Wyk, 18 Conrad de Beer, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Nic de Jager, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Franco Naude, 24 Andre Warner
Date: Saturday, October 20
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17:00 local (16:00 BST; 15:00 GMT)
Referee: Egon Seconds
Assistant referees: Rasta Rasivhenge, Paul Mente
Television match official: Willie Vos