Rugby
Ludwig on debut, Hendricks named captain─── 13:37 Fri, 21 Jan 2022
Bulls flanker, Reinhardt Ludwig, will make his United Rugby Championship debut in the South African North versus South derby where the side will take on Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The 19-year-old, who has been a key figure in the Bulls’ Under-20 side over the past year, is an exciting addition to a strong Bulls side that will look to begin their 2022 campaign in the cross-hemisphere competition. There will be no shortage of experience alongside him, with Arno Botha starting at openside flanker while Elrigh Louw will at No8.
Springbok centre, Cornal Hendricks, will captain the side this weekend.
Tighthead prop, Mornay Smith, will make a return to the starting XV, where he will buckle down alongside loosehead prop, Gerhard Steenekamp, and hooker, Johan Grobbelaar, to make up the front row trio.
David Kriel makes a return to the familiar fullback position, combining with wingers, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Madosh Tambwe, to make up the back three.
Bulls director of rugby, Jake White said: “The rivalry between the Bulls and Stormers always sets us up for an exhilarating encounter. This weekend will be no different, and to begin the year in the United Rugby Championship against a quality side like the Stormers will be important in determining where we are as a team after the end-year break.
“While we look forward to entertaining the 2000 spectators who will be at Loftus Versfeld, we can only hope that we will soon see the numbers increase and we return to some form of normality, which is important for commercially, for sponsors, fans and all rugby stakeholders.”
Stormers - 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Salmaan Moerat (co-captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (co-captain).
Replacements - 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Dan du Plessis, 23 Warrick Gelant
Bulls - 15 David Kriel, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Cornal Hendricks (captain), 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Arno Botha, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenkamp
Replacement - 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Harold Vorster
