Bulls debut for Brink against Scarlets

Cyle Brink is set to make his Vodacom United Rugby Championship debut when the Vodacom Bulls host Welsh outfit, Scarlets, in Pretoria on Friday night.

The Vodacom Bulls will end what has been a demanding week of rugby with a visit from the Llanelli-based side, this on the back of a mid-week Carling Currie Cup win over Cell C Sharks on Wednesday and a historic Vodacom URC victory against Munster last Saturday.

The team from Pretoria have made four changes to the victorious side that beat Munster last weekend.

The 28-year-old Brink, a former Junior Springbok who played for the Emirates Lions and Leicester Tigers in England before moving to Pretoria, has been included at flank in place of Arno Botha, while Canan Moodie will start in the No 14 jersey and Cornal Hendricks shifts to outside centre in place of Lionel Mapoe.

Zak Burger is back in the starting XV at scrumhalf, with Botha joining Keagan Johannes (scrumhalf), Mapoe (centre), Joe van Zyl (hooker) and Reinhardt Ludwig (lock) on the bench.

“It has been a very busy week for us as a squad this week – playing three tough matches in a space of seven days in both the Vodacom URC and Carling Currie Cup,” said Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby, Jake White.

“Management of our playing personnel has been key this week. As a result, we have made a total of 10 changes to the team that was on duty on Wednesday night against the Cell C Sharks in the Carling Currie Cup.

“We have another tough match against a Scarlets team that has shown what a threat they can be in the Vodacom URC. We will need to be sharp and prepared to play an 80-minute game in what promises to be a highly competitive encounter.”

The match will kick-off at 19h10 on Friday, and it will be televised on SuperSport.

Vodacom Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Cornal Hendricks, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Joe van Zyl, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Lionel Mapoe.

Vodacom United Rugby Championship Vodacom Bulls Scarlets Cyle Brink Jake White Loftus Versfeld

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