Regular Vodacom Blue Bulls Currie Cup starters Francois Venter and Arno Botha have been included in the Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-21 squad to play DHL Western Province on Saturday.
Official Media Release
Venter and Botha’s inclusion are the only changes Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-21 coach Nollis Marais made for this match in Durban, the final of the Absa Under-21 Provincial Championship.
Venter will take over from injured Jan Serfontein at inside centre and Botha replaces Jean Cook at number eight, with the latter moving to the bench in place of Cloete Wessels.
“We need experienced heads and proven players in a final and we are lucky that Swys and Arno offer just that,” Marais said.
“We are defending a title, but is also looking to cap a great season for the team, in which we topped the log and played very rewarding rugby,” Marais said.
Blue Bulls U/21: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Damian van Wyk, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Lohan Jacobs, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg (Captain), 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Basil Short, 18 Victor Hechter, 19 Jean Cook, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Christopher Bosch.
As speculated Arno Botha and Francois Venter make the team, didn’t initially think it would be a good idea to play Venter and split the Small-Smith/Serfontein combo but with Serfontein injured it makes sense.