The former Cheetah, Hendricks, will form the centre combination with the Olympian, Stedman Gans, while Chris Smith will marshal the backline.

The Bulls also named a very young loose trio the game, and it will see 19-year-old flanker, Cameron Hanekom, on debut.

Bulls coach, Gert Smal, told OFM Sport that forward dominance will be imperative.

“It starts upfront and we know what the Cheetahs are all about.

“They've got some very talented players and some there is some experience as well in Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn.

“They have a massive kicking game as well with Clayton Blommetjies, Frans and Ruan.

“You have to prepare for that and it's a nice challenge for us to see if we can close them down.”

Wednesday’s match between the Bulls and Cheetahs in Pretoria kicks off at 17:45.

Bulls - 15 David Kriel, 14 Sibongile Novuka, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks (captain), 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Muller Uys, 7 Cameron Hanekom, 6 WJ Steenkamp, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Reinhardt Ludwig, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Schalk Erasmus, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.

Replacements - 16 Joe van Zyl, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Raynard Roets, 20 Jaco Labuschagne, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 FC du Plessis, 23 Richard Kriel.

Toyota Cheetahs - 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 David Brits, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Enver Brandt, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Aidon Davis 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Chucky van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira.

Replacements - 16 Janus Venter, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Beertjie van Vuuren, 19 Sergio Moreira, 20 Jeandré Rudolph, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Robert Ebersohn.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport