Bulls name squad to travel to Wales for Ospreys match

A 28-man Bulls squad will travel to Wales this week for their crucial United Rugby Championship match against Ospreys in Swansea.

Although a playoff spot has already been secured, the Tshwane-based side will travel to Europe where they will want to put themselves in a good position for a potential home quarter-final spot, depending on permutations of other fixtures this weekend, should they secure a victory in their final round-robin match on Friday night.

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Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, has selected a strong group for the one-week tour which includes one of the side’s newest recruits, Ruan Vermaak, who joined the side late last week from Japanese team, NTT Red Hurricanes.

“We have an important tour where we will face a dangerous Ospreys team in their own backyard. We are at a crucial stage of the competition – the business end of the round-robin stages and on the verge of the playoffs, with plenty to play for in terms of securing home quarter-final spots,” said White.

“Be that as it may, the focus is on playing well as a group this week and to start building good momentum going into the playoffs.”

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The match will be played at the Swansea.com (Liberty) Stadium, kicking off at 9.10pm on Friday.

The Bulls 28-man touring squad is:

FORWARDS (16):
Arno Botha, Bismarck du Plessis, Cyle Brink, Dylan Smith, Elrigh Louw, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Janko Swanepoel, Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee (capt), Mornay Smith, Robert Hunt, Ruan Nortje, Ruan Vermaak, Simphiwe Matanzima, Walt Steenkamp.

BACKS (12):
Canan Moodie, Chris Smith, Cornal Hendricks, David Kriel, Embrose Papier, Harold Vorster, Juan Mostert, Keagan Johannes, Madosh Tambwe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Stedman Gans, Zak Burger