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Jean de Villiers returns for match against Blue Bulls

Jean de Villiers in the Springbok jersey

Springbok captain Jean de Villiers has recovered from his sternum injury and will lead the Stormers against the Bulls in Saturday’s Super Rugby clash at Newlands.

De Villiers, who missed the Stormers’ last two wins — over the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings — returns to the starting line-up in one of five changes ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the newly-crowned SA Conference winners.

To make room for the captain, Damian de Allende drops to the bench, while Gio Aplon shifts from wing to fullback(in place of the injured Joe Pietersen.

Gerhard van den Heever comes onto the right-wing, Gary van Aswegen will start at flyhalf and Rynhardt Elstadt returns at number seven.

“Jean de Villiers is the captain and the incumbent No.12 so the plan was always to bring him straight back if he was fit,” said coach Allister Coetzee on Wednesday.

“With Gio at fullback being a left-footer, bringing in Gary at flyhalf gives us the important option of having the combination of a left- and right-footed kicker in our backline.”

Don Armand and Elton Jantjies join De Allende on the bench while Springbok prop Pat Cilliers is named among the replacements once again.

Record-breaking wing Bryan Habana will be playing in his final match for the Stormers, which will be his 57th appearance for the franchise, having scored 18 tries in the process.

“It’s massively important for us to win this weekend. We’ve only lost to the Crusaders at home this year and we lost to the Bulls at Newlands in 2011,” said Coetzee.

“We’d like to finish on a high and carry that momentum into the next competition.”

Stormers team: Gio Aplon, Gerhard van den Heever, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (captain), Bryan Habana, Gary van Aswegen, Louis Schreuder, Nizaam Carr, Rynhardt Elstadt, Deon Fourie (vice-captain), De Kock Steenkamp, Eben Etzebeth, Brok Harris, Scarra Ntubeni, Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: Martin Bezuidenhout, Pat Cilliers, Gerbrandt Grobler, Don Armand, Nic Groom, Elton Jantjies, Damian de Allende. – Sapa

Rugby: Loftus tickets reduced to attract spectators

The Blue Bulls Company has reduced ticket prices for the final round of the four-nation Incoming Series rugby contest, Beeld reported on Monday.

Tickets for the upper east pavilion and restricted viewing seats in the south pavilion had been reduced by R100 to attract a larger crowd to Loftus Versfeld where the Springboks face Samoa and Italy meet Scotland, on Saturday.

A disappointing 23,663 spectators witnessed the first double-header in Durban, while 30,018 spectators were present in the 41 ,000-capacity Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday. – Sapa

Blue Bulls win at last against Cheetahs

The Blue Bulls broke their three-week losing streak with a clinical performance to trounce the Free State Cheetahs 34-30 in Pretoria on Saturday.

While the Bulls had underperformed in previous weeks, things seemed to click for the hosts as they dominated every aspect of play to shut the Cheetahs out.

The victory kept the Bulls in the running to secure a place in the playoffs, lifting them off the bottom rung of the Currie Cup ladder, while the Cheetahs dropped down to the bottom of the log.

Bulls flyhalf Louis Fouche opened the scoring with a penalty conversion in the fourth minute while Cheetahs winger Nico Scheepers returned the favour four minutes later.

The Pretoria side got over the whitewash in the 12th minute when eighthman Arno Botha pierced the Cheetahs’ defensive line.

The talented loose forward calmly offloaded to a speeding Sampie Mastriet, who scored in the corner, with Fouche missing the conversion kick.

Scheepers closed the gap once again with a successful shot at goal in the 17th minute to take the scores to 8-6.

Fouche then stepped up to the plate to slot over a monstrous attempt at goal from deep inside his own half.

He succeeded with two more penalty conversions to extend the Bulls’ lead to 11 points with eight minutes left in the opening period.

The Cheetahs then added another three points on the half-time whistle with Scheepers converting a penalty to reduce the home side’s advantage.

After the break, Fouche converted another penalty conversion to regain their 18-point lead.

The Cheetahs, however, refused to bow down as they hit back with two tries within the space of 10 minutes.

The visiting attack found a new spark as Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske sent Sias Ebersohn on to replace Tewis de Bruyn at flyhalf.

It was, however, exciting backline player Raymond Rhule who was rewarded in the 53rd minute for an all-round sterling performance on the night, with Scheepers converting.

Midway through the second half the Cheetahs once again found a gap in the Bulls’ defence with Scheepers scoring in the right hand corner and converting his own try.

The closing minutes were filled with drama with the Bulls defending a four-point lead.

The hosts, however, took the game out of the Cheetahs’ reach as replacement loose forward CJ Stander added his name to the try scoring sheet with four minutes remaining in the encounter.

The Free Staters had the last say of the match as prop Marcel van der Merwe scored the final try with a minute left on the clock.

Scorers: Bulls 34 (17): Tries: Sampie Mastriet, Franco Mostert, CJ Stander. Conversions: Louis Fouche (2). Penalties: Fouche (5).

Free State Cheetahs 30 (9): Tries: Raymond Rhule, Nico Scheepers, Marcel van der Merwe. Conversions: Scheepers (3). Penalties: Scheepers (3).- Sapa