The Vodacom Bulls will be determined to get back on the winning track when they face the Rebels in the first game of their four-match Vodacom Super Rugby tour to Australasia in Melbourne on Friday morning (11h45 SA time), while a local double-header awaits on Saturday afternoon.

The Emirates Lions will be in action first in Johannesburg, where they host the Highlanders from 15h05. In Cape Town, the DHL Stormers face the Crusaders in a very important clash at DHL Newlands, where the kick-off is 17h15.

The Cell C Sharks have a bye this weekend, while the Jaguares – the other team in the SA Conference – square up to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday morning.

Gelant, Liebenberg back to face Rebels in Melbourne

#REBvBUL

The Vodacom Bulls welcome back Springbok fullback Warrick Gelant and Hanro Liebenberg (looseforward) for Friday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Rebels in Melbourne, where the men from Pretoria will be looking for their sixth victory out of seven outings over the team from Victoria.

This match, which kicks off at 11h45 (SA time) and will be televised live on SuperSport1, is the opening game of the Vodacom Bulls’ four-match Australasian tour.

Gelant was pulled from the team that lost to the Crusaders at home last weekend due to bronchitis, but he has shrugged off the illness and will wear the No 15 jersey at AAMI Park in place of Divan Rossouw, who moves to the bench.

Liebenberg has shrugged off his injury niggles and will take over the No 7 flank duties from Jannes Kirsten, while Paul Schoeman rotates places with Marco van Staden, who moves to the bench, in a new-look loose trio.

The Vodacom Bulls had a disappointing home outing against the Crusaders last weekend and they need a good performance against the Rebels, currently second in the Australian conference, to boost their confidence for the rest of the tour.

It will only be their third visit to Melbourne – in 2012 the Vodacom Bulls won 41-35, but three years later, in 2015, the Rebels came out tops, winning that match 21-20.

It’s been three years since the Vodacom Bulls’ last victory in Australia, over the Force in Perth in 2016 (42-20), a statistic they will be keen to rectify on Friday.

A win in Melbourne will also aid the Vodacom Bulls in keeping their playoff hopes alive. They are also currently second on the South African log, just one point behind the Cell C Sharks, who lead the local ladder on 29 points, although the Pretoria side have played one less game than the Durbanites.

What they said:

Vodacom Bulls head coach Pote Human said: “Our performance against the Rebels will be a crucial indicator of our prospects for the rest of the season. We need to start the tour well, but more importantly, we need to get some self-respect back after our poor showing in front of the Loftus faithful last weekend. We owe it to them, but also ourselves to show some intent and some desire to win this competition.”

Vodacom Bulls captain Handre Pollard said the Rebels have shown how good they are at preying on weaknesses in their opponents' armoury: “To be fair, we showed that we have a couple of areas to improve upon. That said, the one thing about this squad you cannot fault is to take it on the chin and then just work harder. We all want to be there at the end of the race, we want to play in the knock-out phase and then the final. I believe we have the players to do exactly that.”

The teams:

Rebels: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty (captain), 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Rob Leota, 7 Richard Hardwick, 6 Luke Jones, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Anaru Rangi, 1 Tetera Faulkner. Replacements: 16 Hugh Roach, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Sam Jeffries, 20 Pone Fa’amausili, 21 Michael Ruru, 22 Campbell Magnay, 23 Matt To’omua.

Vodacom Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handre Pollard (captain), 9 Andre Warner, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka. Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Divan Rossouw.

Head to head:

Played: 6

Rebels won: 1

Vodacom Bulls won: 5

Rebels points: 108

Vodacom Bulls points: 221

Average score: 18-37

Match information:

Date: Friday, 17 May 2019

SA time: 11h45

Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne

Referee: Federico Anselmi

Assistant referees: Damon Murphy, Aaron Pook

Television Match Official: Ian Smith

TV: SuperSport1

Emirates Lions shuffle pack for Highlanders challenge

#LIOvHIG

Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx will captain the Emirates Lions in their Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Highlanders on Saturday because regular skipper and No 8, Warren Whiteley, is nursing a bruised knee.

The Vodacom Super Rugby clash in Johannesburg starts at 15h05 and will televised live on SuperSport1.

Emirates Lions coach Swys de Bruin also announced changes to the loose trio and front row from the team that beat the Waratahs last weekend.

Dylan Smith comes in for Sti Sithole at loosehead prop, while Kwagga Smith moves from flank to No 8 in the absence of Whiteley. Marnus Schoeman takes over the No 6 jersey duties from Smith, while Cyle Brink will don the No 7 jersey in place of Vincent Tshituka.

The Highvelders held on to a nail-biting 29-28 win over a Waratahs side in Joburg and they will have to deliver an improved effort if they want to topple the Highlanders. The Pride of Jozi need a good performance if they want to keep alive their playoff hopes.

Looking at the history of previous games between the two sides, then both teams have won six times in the 12 fixtures between them to date. Interestingly, each side were alternate winners in the last 10 times they have faced each other.

What they said:

Emirates Lions prop Dylan Smith said their scrum will have to be even better against the Kiwis: “The Highlanders are a great scrummaging pack and we have to stick to our system. We scrummed well last week against the Waratahs, but we know we have to improve this week.”

Teams:

Emirates Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi; 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje; 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx (captain), 1 Dylan Smith. Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Vincent Tshituka, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Shaun Reynolds, 23 Tyrone Green.

Highlanders: 15 Matt Faddes, 14 Jordan Hyland, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 11 Sio Tomkinson, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Shannon Frizell, 7 Luke Whitelock (captain), 6 Dillon Hunt, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Josh Dickson, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Ayden Johnstone. Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Jack Whetton, 20 James Lentjes, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Dan Hollinshead, 23 Waisake Naholo.

Head to head:

Played: 12

Emirates Lions: 6

Highlanders won: 6

Emirates Lions points: 309

Highlanders points: 325

Average score: 26-27

Match information:

Date: Saturday, 18 May 2019

SA time: 15h05

Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge

Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper, Griffin Colby

Television Match Official: Willie Vos

TV: SuperSport1

Bok trio back to boost DHL Stormers against Crusaders

#STOvCRU

The DHL Stormers have been boosted by the return of three Springboks – Siya Kolisi (captain and flank), Pieter-Steph du Toit (flank) and Damian de Allende (inside centre) – in the starting team to play the Crusaders in a Vodacom Super Rugby home match on Saturday.

The Bok trio are back in the starting line-up for the important clash against the defending champions from Christchurch, which kicks off at 17h15 on Saturday.

De Allende takes his place in midfield alongside Joshua Stander (flyhalf), with Jean-Luc du Plessis and Dan Kriel on the replacements bench.

In the forward pack, Kolisi and Du Toit are on the flanks with Jaco Coetzee at the back of the scrum, while Cobus Wiese starts in the second row next to Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth.

Experienced Springbok front ranker Frans Malherbe is set to provide an impact in the second half.

For the visitors, All Black lock Sam Whitelock returns to captain the Crusaders, having re-joined the squad in Cape Town earlier this week.

The Crusaders have won their last five matches against South African opposition in the Republic, including last week’s victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria, while the DHL Stormers will be out to improve on their three wins (all at home) from their last 16 outings against New Zealand teams.

What they said:

DHL Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck said his team are looking forward to playing at DHL Newlands again: “We have a good home record and this is another great opportunity for us to perform in front of our supporters. We have put the hard work in on the training pitch and we want to ensure we are focused on Saturday so that we can be as accurate as possible.”

DHL Stormers captain Siya Kolisi added that his team are looking forward to an electric atmosphere at their home match: “We know that we will get great support from the DHL Newlands faithful and will do everything we can to get the win for them.”

Teams:

DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Jaco Coetzee, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Cobus Wiese, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Kobus van Dyk, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Dan Kriel.

Crusaders: 15 David Havili, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Matt Todd, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Sam Whitelock (captain), 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 George Bower. Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 Harry Allan, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Jordan Taufua, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Braydon Ennor.

Head to head:

Played: 22

DHL Stormers won: 4

Crusaders won: 17

Draw: 1

DHL Stormers points: 446

Crusaders points: 656

Average score: 20-30

Match information:

Date: Saturday, 18 May 2019

SA time: 17h15

Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town

Referee: Nic Berry

Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, AJ Jacobs

Television Match Official: Marius Jonker

TV: SuperSport1

Other matches in Round 14:

Friday, 17 May
09h35: Hurricanes vs Jaguares, Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Saturday, 4 May

09h35: Blues v Chiefs, Eeden Park, Auckland

11h45: Reds vs Waratahs, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Byes: Brumbies, Sharks, Sunwolves.