The Bulls face a tough opening assignment on Saturday when they host the Hurricanes in their first Super Rugby match of the new season at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The match starts at 17:15 and is one of three encounters featuring South African teams over the weekend.

Siya Kolisi and his Stormers side will get proceedings underway from a South African point of view when they meet the Waratahs at 10:45 on Saturday in Sydney, before the Emirates Lions host the Jaguares at 15:05 in Johannesburg. The Sharks have a bye this weekend.

Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit and fullback SP Marais both return from injury for the Stormers’ encounter with the Waratahs and have been included in a starting team that show four changes from the one that defeated the Jaguares 28-20 last week.

Du Toit comes into the second row to partner JD Schickerling, with Kobus van Dyk starting on the flank and Chris van Zyl and Sikhumbuzo Notshe among the replacements. Marais starts at fullback, with Dillyn Leyds shifted to the wing and JJ Engelbrecht at outside centre. EW Viljoen will provide impact from the bench while Seabelo Senatla gets a rest.

The Emirates Lions have made two adjustments to their match-day squad that defeated the Sharks 26-19 last weekend. Andries Ferreira, who was a late withdrawal last Saturday, is back to partner Springbok lock Franco Mostert in the second row.

And on the bench, 21-year-old Junior Springbok scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren is set to make his competition debut should he get game time.

Bulls coach John Mitchell, in his first Super Rugby outing with the men from Pretoria, has named four capped Springboks in his starting team for the Hurricanes clash, and also included three potential debutants on the bench for the Loftus clash.

Burger Odendaal will lead the team that include Springboks Warrick Gelant, Jesse Kriel, Handré Pollard and Lood de Jager in the starting team, with two more Springboks, in Adriaan Strauss and Marnitz Boshoff, on the bench.

Marco van Staden, Embrose Papier and Divan Rossouw have been selected to play at this level for the first time and will make their Vodacom Super Rugby debuts if they take to the field.

Elsewhere, the Australian and New Zealand Conference teams will be in action after three SA teams and the Jaguares kicked off the action in the first round.

What they said:

Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck said his team is determined to carry the momentum they gained last week into their first game on tour. “It has been a good week for us in Sydney and the players are focused on making a positive start to the tour. We know there are several areas in which we can improve, so we will be giving it everything on Saturday,” said Fleck.

Emirates Lions head coach Swys de Bruin mentioned that his team will face a tough battle against the combative Jaguares. “The Jaguares will be determined to give a better performance and we will have to be ready for a huge onslaught from them. We prepared well and know we will have to be on our guard right to the end,” according to De Bruin.

Vodacom Bulls head coach John Mitchell said his team is keen to get going after their bye of last week: “The wait is finally over for us. We worked hard to get to this point and that work and progress will now be tested against one of the best teams in the competition. It is a tough way to start, but we would not want it any other way,” Mitchell explained.

WARATAHS v STORMERS 

#WARvSTO

Head to head:

Played: 19

Waratahs won: 8

Stormers won: 10

Drawn matches: 1

Waratahs points: 389

Stormers points: 413

Average score: 20-22

Teams:

Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Michael Wells, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Tom Staniforth, 3 Paddy Ryan, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Tom Robertson. Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 18 Shambeckler Vui, 19 Nick Palmer, 20 Jed Holloway, 21 Mitch Short, 22 Bryce Hegarty, 23 Alex Newsome.

Stormers: 15 SP Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 Dean Muir, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 George Whitehead, 23 EW Viljoen.

Match information:

Date: Saturday, 24 February

SA time: 10:45

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Referee: Angus Gardner (AUS)

Assistant referees: Mike Frazer (NZ), Will Houston (AUS),

Television match official: George Ayoub (AUS)

TV: SuperSport 1

LIONS v JAGUARES 

#LIOvJAG 

Head to head:

Played: 4

Lions won: 2

Jaguares won: 2

Lions points: 122

Jaguares points: 115

Average score: 30-29

Teams:

 Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg.

Jaguares: TBA

Match information:

Date: Saturday, 24 February

SA time: 15:05

Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SA)

Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (SA), Jaco Pretorius (SA)

Television match official: Willie Vos (SA)

TV: SuperSport 1

BULLS v HURRICANES 

#BULvHUR

Head to head:

Played: 18

Bulls won: 8

Hurricanes won: 10

Bulls points: 448

Hurricanes points: 464

Average score: 25-26

Teams:

 Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (captain), 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Nic de Jager, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Divan Rossouw.

Hurricanes: 15 Matt Proctor, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ihaia West, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields (captain), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Ben May, 2 Ricky Ricctelli, 1 Toby Smit. Replacements: 16 James O'Reilly, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Alex Fidow, 19 Murray Douglas, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Jamie Booth, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Ben Lam.

Match information:

Date: Saturday, 24 February

SA time: 17:15

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (SA)

Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA), Stephan Geldenhuys (SA)

Television match official: Marius Jonker (SA)

TV: SuperSport 1

Bye: Sharks

Other Round 2 matches:

Friday, 23 February: 

08:35 -  Highlanders v Blues, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

10:45 - Rebels v Reds, AAMI Park, Melbourne

Saturday, 24 February:

06:15 - Sunwolves v Brumbies, Prince Chichibu Stadium, Tokyo
08:35 -  Crusaders v Chiefs, AMI Stadium, Christchurch