The Vodacom Bulls have made a few changes to personnel in their matchday 23 that will duel French side, Lyon on Friday 20 January 2023, in round 4 of the 2022/23 Heineken Champions Cup.
The Pool A match is scheduled to kick-off at 22h00pm (Central African Time) at the Matmut Stadium de Gerland, in Lyon.
Nizaam Carr will lead the side as Simphiwe Matanzima, Bismarck Du Plessis and Francois Klopper form a new front-row combination to that which duelled the Chiefs in Pretoria.
Ruan Vermaak will pair up with Janko Swanepoel in the second row, whilst Marco van Staden and Cyle Brink will have Carr for company in the back row.
At the back: Embrose Papier(scrum half), Johan Goosen (fly half) and Cornal Hendricks (inside centre) come into the starting fifteen with Zak Burger and Chris Smith set to start off the bench, alongside Johann Grobbelaar, Gerard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Elrigh Louw, Lionel Mapoe and club captain, Ruan Nortje.
The herd are on a quest for a third victory of their debut campaign, hoping to emulate their triumphant 42-36 victory on home soil in the opening round of the competition.
Their hosts, are still without a win in this campaign and will surely look to correct this in the final pool fixture, making this an appetising clash for rugby fans across the two hemispheres.
In the pool, only five sides have already confirmed their qualification for the round of 16; Leinster Rugby (1st), Cell C Sharks (2nd), Saracens (3rd), Exeter Chiefs (4th) and Edinburgh Rugby (5th) with three spots up for grabs going into the final round of fixtures.
The Vodacom Bulls travel to Lyon sitting sixth, 5 points adrift the pool topping Leinster (who are on 15 points) and 7 points ahead of their opponents, who lie in tenth place.
Only a point separates the Pretoria outfit from Edinburgh and Exeter, with Harlequins in seventh place (7 points) and Racing 92 in provisional eight (5 points) ahead of this weekend’s matches.
BULLS STARTING XV:
1. Simphiwe Matanzima, 2. Bismarck Du Plessis, 3. Francois Klopper, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. Janko Swanepoel, 6. Marco van Staden, 7. Cyle Brink, 8. Nizaam Carr (c), 9. Embrose Papier, 10. Johan Goosen, 11. David Kriel, 12. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Wandisile Simelane, 14. Canan Moodie, 15. Kurt-Lee Arendse
BULLS IMPACT SQUAD:
16. Johann Grobbelaar, 17. Gerard Steenekamp, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Ruan Nortje, 20. Elrigh Louw, 21. Zak Burger, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Lionel Mapoe
