Winless Bulls blood two more debutants for final Currie Cup round

The Bulls XV will introduce two more debutants when they face the Sharks XV at Kings Park on Friday night, taking their campaign total to 29. The Pretoria side enters the final Currie Cup league round without a win after losing all six of its matches.

Ian van der Merwe starts at flyhalf, while winger Ruan Enslin also makes his first appearance for the Bulls XV. Van der Merwe previously represented the Junior Boks and played twice for South Africa Under-20 at last year’s Junior World Championship.

Their selections underline the youth focus of a team rooted at the bottom of the standings. Coach Phiwe Nomlomo has included 13 players eligible for Under-21 rugby in his 23-man match squad, which has an average age of 21.5.

The Bulls’ starting backline includes Aka Boqwana at fullback, Marnus Rademeyer and Christiaan Vlok in midfield, and Riyaad Bam on the opposite wing to Enslin. Keagan Johannes partners Van der Merwe at halfback, with Chinedu Amadi, Cephas van Biljon and Kebotile Maake forming the loose-forward group.

Nomlomo has accepted the team’s poor record while stressing that the young players will continue to compete for the result. The coach has described the season as a difficult environment in which the Bulls have given substantial playing time to emerging talent, but said the approach for the Durban fixture remains focused on winning and maintaining effort throughout the match.