Bulls to embrace 'South African DNA' as they name strong team to face All Blacks

Captain Marcell Coetzee leads the side, while experienced Springbok veteran Willie le Roux will help new flyhalf Curwin Bosch marshal the backline.

New signing Bosch will make his return to South African rugby after two years in France, with the former Sharks playmaker named alongside scrumhalf partner Embrose Papier. 

The Bulls also welcome back loose forward Hanro Liebenberg, who has returned to South Africa after spending time with Leicester Tigers in the English Premiership, and will form part of a formidable loose trio that includes captain Coetzee and Jeandre Rudolph.

Currie Cup standout Hakeem Kunene is named among the replacements, while former Sharks and Munster wing Thaakir Abrahams provides another attacking option from the bench.

The match will be only the fifth meeting between the Bulls and New Zealand, with the All Blacks having won three of the previous four encounters.

The Bulls' only victory came in 1976, when Northern Transvaal beat the All Blacks 29-27. Saturday's match falls almost exactly 50 years after that famous result.

"I've been very privileged to have played them [the All Blacks) four times," said Coetzee. âœLast one in 2014, it was a phenomenal All Blacks team. To get the opportunity to play them again after all these years, that's awesome.

"You can just see the buzz in the youngsters' faces with the game coming up this weekend. The reality is everybody's not going to get that opportunity, maybe at international level, but this is a great opportunity for the guys to really exert themselves and measure themselves where they want to go in the future."

Reflecting on the Stormers' performance against the All Blacks last week, Coetzee said there were lessons the Bulls could take from the match.

"The Stormers really took it to them. Defensive wise, set-piece wise, the aerial game, making the breakdowns a mess, that's the South African DNA," he said.

Bulls coach Johan Ackermann, meanwhile, made it clear the Bulls have no intention of rolling over at Loftus on Saturday.

"We're competitive and we're going to give them a run for their money, hopefully. That's the aim," he said.

"We don't want to make it easy. Even though they're probably, from a rugby point of view, more battle-hardened, we're going to give it a bash. We still believe that if we do things well, we can upset them and push them all the way."

Bulls - 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Juann Else, 1 Alu Tshakweni.

Replacements: 16 Jaundre Schoeman, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Khuta Mchunu, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Katlego Letebele, 23 Hakeem Kunene.

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