WRAP | Weekend URC fixtures, results, reports

'We're not in pieces': White on Bulls paying heavy school fees in Leinster defeat

The Bulls' director of rugby Jake White was as humble in defeat as he was effusive in his praise for the opposition after his side comfortably came off second best in their top-of-the-table United Rugby Championship (URC) against Leinster on Friday night.

Bulls suffer horrid second-half in Leinster thrashing

In their top-of-the-table defeat against Leinster, the Bulls can't be faulted for not trying. But the result, and how it unfolded, suggested there was a gulf in class between the two sides.

Asenathi Ntlabakanye's suspension sees Lions change one for Ospreys clash

Asenathi Ntlabakanye's 3-match suspension following his red card against Connacht last weekend sees the Lions make one change for their clash against the Ospreys in Johannesburg on Saturday. 

Ntlabakanye's place at tighthead prop is taken by Conraad van Vuuren, with Ruan Dreyer providing prop cover from the bench. 

Saturday's clash kicks-off at 17:05.

Lions

15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12, Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill vd Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith

Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Morgan Naude, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Izan Esterhuizen, 21 Hanru Sirgel, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Stean Pienaar

50-up for Dayimani as Stormers change up for Ulster clash

The Stormers have made several changes to their side to face Ulster in a match where loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani will earn his 50th cap for the franchise.

The match, which kicks off at 19:15 in Cape Town on Saturday sees the Cape-based franchise aiming for back-to-back wins to push them further up the United Rugby Championship (URC) table. 

The return of Warrick Gelant at fullback sees Damian Willemse move back to inside centre, with Dan du Plessis on his outside in midfield.

Dayimani starts at blindside flank, with Willie Engelbrecht on the other side of the scrum.

In the front row, Neethling Fouche and Joseph Dweba come into the starting line-up, with the experienced Frans Malherbe, JJ Kotze and Leon Lyons the front-row replacements on a bench that also features Adre Smith, Ben-Jason Dixon and Marcel Theunissen.

Stormers director of rugby John Dobson said that his team is looking to back up their win against Edinburgh last week against a tough Ulster outfit

"We showed good attacking intent against Edinburgh, but we know we can be far more accurate and we will certainly need to be against Ulster. It is another opportunity for us to move our game forward and we know we will get great support as ever at DHL Stadium," he said.

Stormers

15 Warrick Gelant 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg 13 Dan du Plessis 12 Damian Willemse 11 Leolin Zas 10 Manie Libbok 9 Paul de Wet 8 Evan Roos 7 Hacjivah Dayimani 6 Willie Engelbrecht 5 Ruben van Heerden 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain) 3 Neethling Fouche 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Brok Harris.

Substitutes: 16 JJ Kotze 17 Leon Lyons 18 Frans Malherbe 19 Adre Smith 20 Ben-Jason Dixon 21 Marcel Theunissen 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 Ben Loader.

Louw back for Bulls in top-of-the-table clash

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has made six changes to his match-day 23 for Friday's URC clash against Leinster in Dublin.

Elrigh Louw is back after a shoulder niggle and he will line up alongside Marco van Staden and Marcell Coetzee in the loose trio.  

In front of them will be the lock duo of Ruan Nortje and Vermaak, while the front row will consist of Gerhard Steenekamp, Akker van der Merwe and Wilco Louw.  

In the backline, Embrose Papier features at scrumhalf and Johan Goosen at flyhalf.  

Canan Moodie is retained at outside centre and he will be joined in midfield by David Kriel, who returns to the matchday squad.

Devon Williams switches to left wing with Kurt-Lee Arendse running out at right wing. Willie le Roux will manage affairs from fullback.  

White has opted for a five-three split on the bench which will see Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Reinhardt Ludwig, Mpilo Gumede, Zak Burger, Chris Smith and Harold Vorster on standby.

White is looking forward to seeing his second-placed charges duel the log leaders.

"We have trained well and the guys who had niggles earlier in the week are all available except for Sebastien (de Klerk) who had a bit of a knock to his head last week.

"I am told that this will be played out in front of a sold-out crowd which sends a good message to our team. It means that we are doing something right, it means that people want to see the Bulls play and it means that we are able to draw crowds to games.

"It will be a big game. It is a 1 playing 2 and I am positively confident that all their big guns will be out as well."

Bulls team to tackle Leinster:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marcell Coetzee (co-captain), 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (co-captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Gerhard Steenkamp  

Substitutes: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Harold Vorster

All Bok front row for Sharks against Edinburgh, Hooker drops to bench

Sharks coach John Plumtree has made a few changes to his team for Saturday's URC clash against Edinburgh at Kings Park.

The Sharks will start with a powerful Springbok front row of Ox Nche, Vincent Koch and Bongi Mbonambi.

Koch starts in place of Ntuthuko Mchunu, while Nche replaces Hanru Jacobs.

Emile van Heerden replaces Gerbrant Grobler in the second row, while James Venter takes the No 6 jersey from Phepsi Buthelezi, who moves to No 8 in place of George Cronje.

There are two changes to the backline, with Werner Kok replacing the injured Eduan Keyter at right wing and Francois Venter coming in for Ethan Hooker at inside centre. Hooker, who was man of the match in last weekend's 22-12 win over Ulster, will play off the bench.

Koch, meanwhile, warned that Edinburgh will be a different team to the one that lost 43-21 to the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend.

"Edinburgh have a completely different team this week to the one that played the Stormers where they rested a number of their Scottish internationals," Koch said.

"Although we've analysed them, we looked at ourselves first and how we as a team can get better. We want to deliver the best performance we can, for the full 80 minutes.

"It's going to be tough, especially upfront, they have loads of international players and we know it's not going to be easy, especially after their defeat to the Stormers. They'll be disappointed with that result and will want to rectify that against us."

Sharks team:

15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am (captain), 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 James Venter, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacos, 19 Corne Rahl, 20, Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Ethan Hooker