Jacques-Louis Potgieter
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd on Friday expressed their sincere gratitude and thanks to a number of stalwarts who will part ways with the Vodacom Bulls at the completion of the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby tournament.
Barend van Graan, CEO of the BBC, confirmed the departures of Pierre Spies, Jacques du Plessis, Flip van der Merwe, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Victor Matfield, Akona Ndungane and Francois Hougaard to French and Japanese clubs and retirement.
Spies (via Japan) and Du Plessis will join French club Montpellier, Van der Merwe moves to Clermont-Avergne and Potgieter to Lyon. Matfield will retire after the Rugby World Cup and Ndungane hangs up his boots this weekend as his contract was only extended for this year’s Super Rugby competition.
Hougaard leaves for Japan later this year and depending on a number of factors, will make a call on whether to return to Loftus Versfeld, at a later stage.
Rudy Paige
Burger Odendaal
Apart from welcoming back Rudy Paige and Burger Odendaal, the Vodacom Bulls named Werner Kruger, Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Dean Greyling in their touring squad for the overseas leg of their Vodacom Super Rugby tour to Australasia.
Kruger has recovered from an ankle injury after several weeks on the sidelines, while Potgieter (hamstring) and Greyling (leg) was also declared fit along with Rudy Paige (knee) and Burger Odendaal (ankle).
With Piet van Zyl out for the rest of the season, Andre Warner will tour as 3rd scrumhalf, the Vodacom Blue Bulls and UP-Tuks’ scrumhalf’s 1st participation in the squad. Travis Ismaiel will also tour as the extra outside back.
Rudy Paige
Vodacom Bulls halfbacks Rudy Paige and Jacques-Louis Potgieter will not be considered for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby match against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town due to injury.
Paige has a grade 1 medial ligament tear and will be out of action for at least 2 weeks, whilst Potgieter have a grade 1 hamstring tear and will be ready to return to action on 4 May, team doctor Org Strauss confirmed on Monday.
Burger Odendaal (hamstring), Bjorn Basson (knee), Flip van der Merwe (knee) and Arno van Wyk (bronchitis) sat out in training on Monday, with Odendaal only returning Thursday.
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke made 2 changes to his starting pack for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg and also had to replace pivot Handré Pollard, who did not recover in time from a knee contusion.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter will start at No 10 and is the only change to the backline that ran on against the Crusaders last week. Potgieter is returning to action following a hamstring strain that kept him out for 3 weeks.
Grant Hattingh (for Victor Matfield) and Dean Greyling (for Morné Mellett) will start in the pack.
Both played off the bench last weekend.
Hattingh’s spot on the bench will be taken by Roelof Smit and Greyling swops places with Mellett, who will play of the bench. Matfield is rested (as is Jan Serfontein).
Callie Visagie makes his return to the squad following a back injury.
Callie Visagie
Akona Ndungane
Vodacom Bulls hooker Callie Visagie and wing Akona Ndungane has been ruled of out action for this weekend’s VodacomSuper Rugby match against the Western Force at Loftus Versfeld, it was confirmed on Monday.
Ndungane has in fact been ruled out for a month after he broke his hand, while Visagie will miss the clash against the Perth side due to a chest injury.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who missed the last match against the Toyota Cheetahs due to a hamstring strain, will train on Tuesday and should be fit to be considered for the weekend.
Arno Botha
Vodacom Bulls loose forward Arno Botha will return to training next week after recovering well from a pectoral muscle tear, but flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter could be on the side-lines for another week.
According to Vodacom Bulls team doctor Org Strauss, Botha will train next Monday and Potgieter, who picked up a hamstring injury last week, will be assessed then. Potgieter was a late withdrawal from the Bulls team that won against the Cell C Sharks on the weekend and could be out of action for 2 weeks.
No one picked up any injuries in that win, although Francois Hougaard, Deon Stegmann and Lappies Labuschagne only trained on Tuesday, due to light niggles.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter
Vodacom Blue Bulls pivot Jacques-Louis Potgieter is confident his team has the right game plan to win playoffs as they prepare for their Absa Currie Cup semifinal against DHL Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.
Potgieter believes the momentum the Bulls have built up, coupled with their game plan will be enough to get his side over the semifinal hurdle against their old rivals.
The Bulls will head down to Cape Town as massive underdogs this weekend, having lost both their league games against Province this year and having very little to counter the Cape side’s expansive game when the teams have met.
But the turnaround came precisely after the Bulls lost their game against Province at Loftus Versfeld and despite a stutter against the Sharks, the Bulls have been steadily building after a poor start to the season to find themselves sneaking into the semifinals and now believe they can go the whole way.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter
Flyhalf Joshua Stander will earn a first senior start for the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the 2014 Absa Currie Cup when the home team face DHL Western Province at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The 20-year old former Queens College player was bracketed with Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who failed a fitness test.
Stander has played for the Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-21 side in the Absa Provincial Championship this season and was an unused replacement in the victory against the EP Kings last weekend.
Stander will be one of four changes to the side that won against the Kings.
The flyhalf will come in for Tony Jantjies (concussion), while Piet van Zyl (for Rudy Paige – bench), Callie Visagie (for Bongi Mbonambi – bench)) and Werner Kruger (for Marcel van der Merwe – Springboks) will return to the run-on team.
A dispute between the Blue Bulls Rugby Union’s top brass and its ex-players union is threatening to escalate.
According to reports, there is dissatisfaction among the ex-players about the union’s plans to “write the ex-players union out of the union’s constitution”.
Former Springbok and Bulls captain Wynand Claassen is the chairperson of the ex-players union.
The Blue Bulls Rugby Union is set to approve the new constitution which would see the ex-players union have no say whatsoever on the union’s executive committee.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd is pleased to confirm that flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter has signed an extension to his contract till 2016.
Potgieter joined the Vodacom Bulls earlier in the season from France following stints with Bayonne and Dax and immediately proved to be a valuable asset to the squad.
He has started in 10 of 12 matches since his arrival and scored 142 points at an average of 11.8 points per match. This included a try, 13 conversions, 34 penalties and three dropped goals.
The Vodacom Bulls will have William Small-Smith available again for selection ahead of their Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. The 22-year old midfielder was ruled out of last week’s selection due to a stomach ailment.
Jono Ross was cleared of concussion and Jurgen Visser suffered a contusion in last Friday night’s win over the Brumbies, but is ready to play as well. They will sit out the field session on Monday and will train Tuesday, team doctor Org Strauss confirmed.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter will earn a first Vodacom Bulls start at flyhalf since 15 May 2010 when the home side host the Lions in their first home match of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The 29-year old pivot is one of four changes made to the starting side that came up short in Bloemfontein last weekend, with Grant Hattingh (as no 8), Victor Matfield (at no 5) and Frik Kirsten (as starting tighthead) the others to earn a start on the weekend.
The Vodacom Bulls are set to make radical changes to their team to face the Lions this weekend in order to get themselves onto the winning path in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby series.
While Flip van der Merwe is set to captain the side once again, the team named on Wednesday will in all likelihood see Victor Matfield and Jacques-Louis Potgieter in the starting line-up and a bold move for regular lock Grant Hattingh to No 8.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter will make a welcome return to Loftus Versfeld next week after signing a two-year deal to return to the Vodacom Bulls ahead of this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby tournament.
The multi-talented flyhalf and center is set to leave Durban and further his career at Bayonne.
Controversial Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has found an unlikely ally in All Blacks assistant Steve Hansen.
South Africa were well beaten by Australia in the Tri-Nations opener after de Villiers decided to leave most of his top players at home and a woefully understrength Springboks side will also run out against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.