Bulls team: Jake White shows his hand early with URC Final announcement as Springboks star ruled out of Leinster showdown

The Bulls have gone early with their team announcement for the United Rugby Championship Final against Leinster, as Jake White makes one change to his line-up.

The tweak is injury-enforced with Cameron Hanekom having suffered an issue in the 25-13 semi-final win over the Sharks which rules him out of the game at Croke Park.

White has picked Marco van Staden in his forward pack with Nizaam Carr coming onto the replacements bench in an otherwise unchanged squad in personnel and duty.

Van Staden at flank

Van Staden slots in at loose forward alongside skipper Ruan Nortje, which sees Marcell Coetzee shifting to number eight in what remains an all-Springboks back-row trio.

The tight five remains unchanged with Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw in the front-row with Cobus Wiese and JF van Heerden starting as locks.

Moving to the backline and last week’s star player, Sebastian de Klerk, continues at left wing alongside Canan Moodie while veteran Willie le Roux is full-back once again.

The steady centre partnership of Harold Vorster and David Kriel offers yet more consistency, with the latter scoring a crucial try in the URC semi-final win last weekend.

Embrose Papier and Johan Goosen are retained as the Bulls‘ half-back combination and will be eager to win their playmaking battle against their direct Irish opponents.

Carr is joined on the bench by Akker van der Merwe, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Jannes Kirsten, Zak Burger, Keagan Johannes and finally, Devon Williams.

The Bulls are looking for what would be their first URC title success having lost two finals since the tournament’s inception but go into the fixture as heavy underdogs.

Bulls team v Leinster

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canon Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Ruan Nortje (c), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Keagan Johannes, 23 Devon Williams

Venue: Croke Park, Dublin

Kick-off: 17:00 UK / 18:00 SAST

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 55th league game)

Assistants: Mike Adamson (SRU) and Sam Grove-White (SRU)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

Live on: TG4, SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv