Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named 21-year old Burger Odendaal at inside centre for his side’s opening match of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup season against the Xerox Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Odendaal, who was schooled at Monument High in Krugersdorp and represented Golden Lions at the Coca-Cola Under-18 Craven Week in 2011, will make his Absa Currie Cup debut for the team, having already played for the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Under-19, Under-21 and Vodacom Cup level from 2012.

Ludeke named an experienced starting team with all but Odendaal, newly named captain Deon Stegmann and flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter having played for the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the 2013 Absa Currie Cup season.

Stegmann missed last season’s campaign due to injury and last played in 2012. Potgieter was still playing in France in 2013, but has represented the Vodacom Blue Bulls at this level in 2005-07 and 2010.

Ludeke named two newcomers on the bench as well, with 20-year olds Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jesse Kriel set to make their Currie Cup debuts if they take to the field.

“We are all very excited about this campaign, but could not have asked for a tougher start in away matches against the Golden Lions and Western Province,” Ludeke said.

“This will mean that we will have to be at our best from the first minute of the first match. The Lions are a formidable outfit, especially at home. We will be focussing on our own game though. We know what worked for us in the past to be successful and we will have to execute that to the best of our ability.”

Stegmann is also keen to get stuck in.

“We want to win the Currie Cup this year. It is as simple as that. We believe in ourselves and in each other, but the challenge for us will be to go out there and be competitive and consistent in our performances.”

The Vodacom Blue Bulls team is: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Jono Ross, 6 Deon Stegmann (c), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling. Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Marcel van der Merwe, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Wiaan Liebenberg, 20 Rudy Paige, 21Tony Jantjies, 22 Jesse Kriel.

Milestones:

Burger Odendaal will make his Absa Currie Cup debut and if they take the field, so will Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jesse Kriel.

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The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd, has teamed up with SSTREAMM TV to deliver an SA first – Blue Bulls TV – available on mobile phones via www.bluebullstv.mobi. The unique mobile TV offering will take fans behind the scenes at the Vodacom Bulls and Blue Bulls, offering exclusive insight into the workings of one of the country’s most-successful rugby teams.

Blue Bulls TV’s unique content, created specifically for mobile devices, gives fans the chance to hear and see what goes on off the pitch in ‘Locker Room Chat’, meet the team behind the team with ‘Inside the Bulls’, learn about the medical side of things with ‘Ask the Doc’, experience a super-fan perspective with ‘Fan Cam’, plus many more exciting video-on-demand (VOD) channels. Delivering ‘Everything but the game’, Blue Bulls TV utilises SSTREAMM’s locally-hosted video streaming service to provide fans with a rich media experience, never seen before in South Africa.

“We have always tried to be at the forefront of innovation in the sport industry, and are thrilled and enthusiastic on teaming up with SSTREAMM TV to engage the audience in this new venture, Blue Bulls TV. Fans will be given the opportunity to gain more insight into what the team really represents and who they are off the pitch.” Said Richard Papo, Marketing Manager, Blue Bulls.

Julian von Plato, Director and Co-Founder of SSTREAMM TV believes that Blue Bulls TV marks the beginning of a revolution in Digital Sports Content in South Africa. “Blue Bulls TV is a unique mobile and web offering platform, giving fans a true ‘second screen’ experience,” he says. “We’ve worked on the project for two years to simplify the navigation and refine the content. Blue Bulls TV will give the country’s most passionate fans the chance to get to know the players, coaches and everyone associated with Blue Bulls with unprecedented ease”.

Blue Bulls TV will launch to Blue Bulls Supporters as a free, subscription-based service for the remainder of the Currie Cup season. Fans who are not members of the official Supporters’ Club will be able to access the service by paying a monthly subscription fee of R25. Vodacom will be offering a special Vodacom Blue Bulls package to their subscribers in the near future.

Log on to www.bluebullstv.mobi and get closer to the action than ever before.