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Drinks will be on Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, after his side takes on Edinburgh Rugby in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
White, during a radio interview on Jacaranda FM on Thursday afternoon, committed to buying a round of drinks for the first thousand fans at the Tshwane stadium’s beer garden after the game.
This will be the first Vodacom URC home match for the 2022/23 season for the Vodacom Bulls following their season-opening victory over the Emirates Lions last weekend.
“We want to get as many people as possible at our games. We know this weekend will be an afternoon game and it’s Heritage Day. Part of our heritage is to have a braai and a beer, so I think one of the things we could do is give the first thousand guys to go into the beer tent after the game – I’ll pay for that – and I’ll buy their first beer,” said White.
“I always say that we want crowds here at Loftus even if it means we get everyone to the beer tent after the game. Hopefully we will be celebrating a good result.”
White is passionate about getting fans out to the stadium. In the previous season the director of rugby was also responsible for publicly agreeing to drop ticket prices to matches at Loftus Versfeld to R25. Tickets remain on sale from R25 this season as well, while kids 18 years and under will get a free ticket into the match against Edinburgh on Saturday.
Kick-off for the match is at 14h30.
Content & Images from – Vodacom Bulls Rugby
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Skinner and Gilchrist make their first start together at club level as Watson is named among the replacements for Edinburgh’s first-ever fixture in Pretoria.
The capital side make two further changes to the pack as former Bull, Pierre Schoeman (loosehead) – returning to Loftus Versfeld for the first time since departing for Edinburgh in 2018 – and WP Nel (tighthead) get the nod up front.
In the backline, Blair Kinghorn (stand-off), Henry Pyrgos (scrum-half) and James Lang (centre) all start after featuring from the bench in last weekend’s bonus-point win over Dragons RFC at DAM Health Stadium.
Ahead of the fixture, Head Coach Mike Blair, said: “It’s been a good week of training as we once again acclimatise to conditions in South Africa – the squad are raring to go.
“We’ve talked about the brilliant challenge of facing teams like Bulls in their own backyard and that’s added another layer of motivation for us as a team. These are the games you want to be playing in, especially in one of world rugby’s great stadiums like Loftus.
“As we saw last season, Bulls are a hugely physical side with try-scoring threats across the park. We know we’re going to have be at our best this weekend, but we’re thrilled with the opportunity to once again represent Edinburgh and our supporters back home.”
An unchanged back-three sees Henry Immelman continue at full-back alongside wingers Damien Hoyland and Darcy Graham, with the latter grabbing a brace of tries in a Player of the Match performance against Dragons RFC.
Scotland duo Lang and Mark Bennett (outside centre) link up in the capital midfield as Pyrgos and Kinghorn form a revamped half-back pairing.
In the pack, hooker Dave Cherry retains his place at hooker as Fijian international Viliame Mata (number 8) anchors an unchanged back-row which sees Luke Crosbie (openside flanker) and Jamie Ritchie (blindside flanker) once again combine for the early kick-off in Pretoria.
Elsewhere, tighthead prop Luan de Bruin is once again fit and selected among the replacements after making his injury comeback for FOSROC Super6 side Southern Knights last weekend.
Edinburgh Rugby team to face Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the BKT United Rugby Championship Saturday 24 September (kick-off 1.30pm BST/ 2.30pm local) – live on Premier Sports 2.
14. Darcy Graham (51) 13. Mark Bennett (72) 12. James Lang (20) 11. Damien Hoyland (95)
10. Blair Kinghorn (120) VICE-CAPTAIN 9. Henry Pyrgos (71)
1. Pierre Schoeman (84) 2. Dave Cherry (58) 3. WP Nel (172) 4. Sam Skinner (1) 5. Grant Gilchrist (176) CAPTAIN 6. Jamie Ritchie (86) CAPTAIN 7. Luke Crosbie (70) 8. Viliame Mata (96)
16. Stuart McInally (166) 17. Boan Venter (26) 18. Luan de Bruin (8) 19. Marshall Sykes (24) 20. Hamish Watson (131) 21. Ben Vellacott (22) 22. Jaco van der Walt (89) 23. Chris Dean (122)
Content & Images from – Edinburgh Rugby
Experienced fullback Clayton Blommetjies and young centre Suleiman Hartzenberg will both make their DHL Stormers debut in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship opener against Connacht in Stellenbosch on Saturday.
The DHL Stormers start their title defence against the Irish side, in a match that kicks off at 14h30 on Saturday at the Danie Craven Stadium.
The Western Province Rugby Football Union Super League A and B Finals will be played directly afterwards at 17h00 and 19h00, while there will also be a beertent with a big screen showing the Springboks play Argentina at 17h05 on the fields next to the stadium.
The 19-year-old Hartzenberg will line up alongside Dan du Plessis in midfield, while out wide speedster Angelo Davids returns from a stint with the national Sevens team to join Blommetjies and Seabelo Senatla in the back three.
Manie Libbok and Paul de Wet form the starting halback combination, with Godlen Masimla and Sacha Mngomezulu among the replacements.
Ernst van Rhyn captains the team from the second row, alongside Marvin Orie and behind a pair of experienced props in Ali Vermaak and Brok Harris, with Andre-Hugo Venter at hooker.
Evan Roos is at the back of the scrum, with Junior Pokomela and Hacjivah Dayimani on the flanks, while there are six forwards in Kwenzo Blose, Chad Solomon, Neethling Fouche, Adre Smith, Marcel Theunissen and Willie Engelbrecht ready to make an impact as replacements.
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that everyone is looking forward to seeing what the new players bring on what should be a memorable occasion in Stellenbosch.
“We have seen the likes of Clayton, Suleiman and some of the others show some real promise in our pre-season and it will be good to see how they react on Saturday.
“We have got an exciting blend of youth and experience, along with more than a few players who really stapped up for us consistently last season.
“The players can’t wait to get going again and we know how important it will be to make a strong start this week, especially as we are playing in a rugby-mad place like Stellenbosch on what should be a great day for it,” he said.
DHL Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Brok Harris, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Adré Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Sacha Mngomezulu.
Content & Images from – Stormers Rugby
The Connacht side has been named ahead of tomorrow’s clash with reigning BKT URC champions DHL Stormers in Stellenbosch (k/o 1.30pm Irish time). In total there are nine changes from the side that lost to Ulster, with six of those among the forwards. There’s a new front row of Denis Buckley, Dylan Tierney-Martin and Finlay Bealham, and a new second row partnership of Niall Murray and Josh Murphy who moves from blindside flanker. Cian Prendergast and captain for the day Jarrad Butler come onto the flanks with Paul Boyle retained at number 8. Caolin Blade is named at scrum-half with out-half Conor Fitzgerald for company, while the back line includes starts for Mack Hansen and Oran McNulty. Hansen starts on the left wing with John Porch on the opposite wing and McNulty at full-back, while the centre partnership consists of Tom Farrell and Byron Ralston. The squad arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday and today travel to Stellenbosch where the game will take place. The squad will remain there until Thursday when they fly to Pretoria for the next week’s game with the Vodacom Bulls. Commenting on the team announcement, Director of Rugby Andy Friend says: ‘We’ve had a positive week so far in South Africa. After arriving on Tuesday, we’ve managed to get the required training done and we’re in a good space heading into our game against the Stormers. I don’t believe that our performance against Ulster was reflective of all the hard work we’d put in during pre-season, and I’m very confident that we’ll deliver a much improved performance on Saturday against last year’s champions. CONNACHT RUGBY MATCHDAY SQUAD VS DHL STORMERS Saturday 24th September 2022, 13:30 Irish time / 14:30 South Africa time @ Danie Craven Stadium Number/Name/Caps ( * denotes uncapped) 15. Oran McNulty (9) 14. John Porch (60) 13. Byron Ralston (1) 12. Tom Farrell (80) 11. Mack Hansen (14) 10. Conor Fitzgerald (54) 9. Caolin Blade (151) 1. Denis Buckley (209) 2. Dylan Tierney-Martin (7) 3. Finlay Bealham (174) 4. Josh Murphy (1) 5. Niall Murray (36) 6. Cian Prendergast (31) 7. Jarrad Butler (95) 8. Paul Boyle (74)
16. Dave Heffernan (166) 17. Peter Dooley (1) 18. Jack Aungier (32) 19. Oisín Dowling (25) 20. Shamus Hurley-Langton (1) 21. Kieran Marmion (210) 22. Bundee Aki (118) 23. David Hawkshaw (1)
Images & Content from – Connacht Rugby
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