Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke recalled two Springboks and a Junior Springbok to his starting backline to play GWK Griquas in Pretoria on Saturday, whilst also including Bok pivot Handré Pollard on the bench.

In a re-jigged backline Junior Bok William Small-Smith (for Bok contracted JJ Engelbrecht), Bjorn Basson (for Sampie Mastriet) and Piet van Zyl (rotating with Rudy Paige) will start, while Marcel van der Merwe will wear the number three jersey in place of Werner Kruger in one of three changes from the pack that beat Steval Pumas last weekend.

Bongi Mbonambi is back again in the two jumper with Callie Visagie benched and Morne Mellett will start at loosehead in place of Dean Greyling.

Pollard will be brought into the game when needed, Ludeke said.

“Handre will definitely play a role in the match. He is playing with a lot of confidence coming off a fine performance for the Springboks against New Zealand and we will tap into that. We need to make sure we beat Griquas well and will be looking for a bonus point, but we will have to build the innings first and make sure we play clever rugby. The likes of William and Bjorn are fresh and they will be keen to have a go.”

Vodacom Blue Bulls captain Deon Stegmann confirmed their determination.

“We had to fight hard and dig deep to get ourselves back into play-off contention. We are not quite there yet, so the job is far from finished. It will be our last match at home this year, so all is keen to go out with a bang. We are looking forward to this match. I feel we are finally playing with some momentum and we are keen to capitalise on that.”

Vodacom Blue Bulls: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9   Piet van Zyl, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Deon Stegmann (Capatin), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Morné Mellett
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Wiaan Liebenberg, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Handre Pollard, 22 Jesse Kriel.