URC Round 3: Bulls v Ulster, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, Saturday, 3pm Irish time – Live on Premier Sports
As if a second successive game at altitude wasn’t challenging enough, this fixture, from an Ulster point of view, comes with an alarming look to it.
After a bruising 35-22 defeat against the Lions in Johannesburg’s heat and thin air, Richie Murphy’s side go again at altitude but this time against a Bulls team laden with returning Springboks intent on unleashing all their power up front and cutting edge behind the scrum.
This being a last home game for the Bulls before they host Northampton in mid-December’s round two of the Champions Cup – they are due to play five times in the northern hemisphere after taking on Ulster and don’t have a home URC tie until the new year – there is real intent on putting in a big performance at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Bulls coach Jake White made his displeasure known after last weekend’s narrow home victory over Edinburgh. So now with Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Gerhard Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw and Marco van Staden all back in harness, he is expecting a sizeable reaction against a rather callow-looking Ulster side.
Having spent most of the week at sea level in Cape Town, Ulster have pitched up in Pretoria and make nine changes to their starting team, giving 21-year-old lock Charlie Irvine his debut appearance, while hooker James McCormick and centre Ben Carson – the latter in for the injured Stuart McCloskey – have been handed first starts by Murphy.
New signing Corrie Barrett is also started at tighthead, meaning that after Saturday both he and McCormick will have only played a combined total of six games for Ulster.
At blindside flanker, James McNabney features for only the sixth time with much resting on the experience of skipper Iain Henderson as well as Sean Reffell, David McCann, Jacob Stockdale and Werner Kok to bring leadership to the group.
Behind the scrum, Nathan Doak comes in for John Cooney and in midfield Carson combines with Stewart Moore, where they will go toe-to-toe against centres Canan Moodie and David Kriel.
Ulster will need their bench to pitch in but have only Tom O’Toole and Nick Timoney as likely impact players, while medical joker Tadgh McElroy looks set to debut at hooker. Outhalf James Humphreys, the son of former Ireland number 10 David, is also in line for a first appearance for the province.
In terms of fulfilling Murphy’s stated desire to bring through the next generation of Ulster players, this is clearly going to showcase some of what is there, the only area up for debate is whether this is indeed the time or the place to be doing it.
BULLS: W le Roux; S de Klerk, C Moodie, D Kriel, K-L Arendse; B Chamberlain, E Papier; G Steenekamp, J Grobbelaar, W Louw; C Wiese, R Nortje (capt); M van Staden, E Louw, C Hanekom.
Replacements: A van der Merwe, J-H Wessels, F Klopper, S Manjezi, C Gumede, K Johannes, S Gans, A Dyantyi.
ULSTER: M Lowry; W Kok, S Moore, B Carson, J Stockdale; A Morgan, N Doak; A Warwick, J McCormick, C Barrett; I Henderson (capt), C Irvine; J McNabney, S Reffell, D McCann.
Replacements: T McElroy, E O’Sullivan, T O’Toole, A O’Connor, N Timoney, D Shanahan, J Humphreys, B Moxham.
Referee: B Whitehouse (WRU).
Prediction: Bulls to win.
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