The Bulls coach, Jake White, has reverted to his strongest available squad for Friday night’s United Rugby Championship game against Benetton in Treviso.

The two recent red card recipients Johan Grobbelaar and David Kriel have both been named in the starting XV as they seek to return to winning ways.

The Springbok, Elrigh Louw, who returns from concussion will captain the team, while Akker van der Merwe, will take over the leadership later in the game.

Embrose Papier. Photo: Morgan Piek

It is the Bull’s last game on tour before the break and they will be targeting a big performance.

White said they are under no illusions as to how tough the game will be and they will have to find a way to win.

“They have a really well-balanced squad and put players in certain positions that make their squad so much stronger,” said White.

“They made the quarter-finals last year and we played really well to beat them. They recently beat the Sharks with a bonus point, and it doesn’t matter which Sharks team played, they would’ve taken a massive amount of confidence from beating a SA team at home.

“It’s going to be a tough game like it always is, but we just have to find a way to play our best rugby.”

Friday night’s game between Benetton and Treviso kicks off at 20:35.

Benetton -15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Paul Odogwu, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Ignacio Brex, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Lorenzo Cannon, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Alexander Izekor, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spanish
Replacements - 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Enzo Avaca, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Sebastian Blacks, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Andy Uren, 23 Jacob Umaga

Bulls - 15 Devon Williams, 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Elrigh Louw (captain), 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni
Replacements - 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Keegan Johannes, 22 Stedman Gans, 23 Sebastian de Klerk

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport cg