Bulls go for broke in throwing Blitzboks star in at the deep end

While Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane’s move from tighthead to loosehead to try and sort out their scrum woes was not unexpected, the Blue Bulls have also given Sevens Olympian Dylan Sage a first start as they look to tax Western Province more on attack in their Currie Cup semifinal at Newlands on Saturday.

Franco Naude, a typical inside centre, has been moved to the bench with Sage, who is a touch over six feet tall and weighs just 87kg.

The 26-year-old, who was the only South African named in the World Series Team-of-the-Year when they won the competition in June, will play outside centre with Johnny Kotze taking over the No 12 jersey.

“We believe we can beat them, but we need to bring something different, especially at Newlands, where they’ll be playing for their home crowd, who all expect a big win. So there’s more pressure on them and we’re just going to go out and enjoy ourselves, but we really want to play in the final,” coach Pote Human said.

But Human can add as much “toe” as he likes to the backline, it won’t matter a jot if his forwards don’t at least match Western Province in the set-pieces.

The Blue Bulls were brought to their knees in the Loftus mud last weekend as Western Province and Springbok tighthead prop Wilco Louw led the way with a ferocious scrummaging display.

It has caused Human to move seasoned Springbok Nyakane from tighthead to loosehead, where he began a career that has seen him earn 37 Test caps, in an effort to nullify Louw.

The hapless Matthys Basson injured his calf in last weekend’s demolition, vacating the No 1 jersey, while Dayan van der Westhuizen will start at tighthead this weekend.

SA Rugby have also allowed the teams to choose full front rows on the bench, taking the number of substitutes to eight.