Springbok world champion Canan Moodie will make his return from injury when the Vodacom Bulls face the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.

Head coach Phiwe Nomlomo has made three changes to the Bulls’ starting XV from the lineup that beat DHL Western Province in a round 4 Currie Cup clash at Loftus Versfeld last week.

While Sergeal Petersen misses out, Moodie – who last played in the Vodacom URC on 1 June – has recovered from his finger injury to slot straight into the back three alongside left winger Stravino Jacobs and fullback Boeta Chamberlain.

“It’s nice to welcome Canan back, he’s been out injured for a while now so he’s quite keen to get going,” Nomlomo said.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him on the wing this weekend. The wealth of knowledge that Canan will bring is immense, and we’ve seen some of that at training this week in the micro-details.

“The whole team sort of grows an extra leg because we’ve got the likes of Canan coming back.”

Lock Jannes Kirsten is promoted after coming off the bench last weekend, while the Bulls have also called on veteran Cornal Hendricks to join Aphiwe Dyanthi in a new-look midfield.

Among the replacements, Devon Williams is set to make an impact with Tiaan Lange while Cyle Brink will make a long overdue comeback if he gets a run against the defending Currie Cup champions at Free State Stadium.

The table-topping Bulls beat the second-placed Cheetahs in Pretoria two weeks ago in this year’s edition of rugby’s oldest competition.

On this week’s challenge for the Herd, Nomlomo adds, “The Cheetahs are a really well drilled unit. The last time the Bulls beat them in Bloem in the Currie Cup was in 2018, so it’s going to be a mighty tough game.

“But it’s exciting because when you look at it, the Bulls and Cheetahs are doing well, and it’s like a double-header because we just recently played them.

“So we’re looking forward to the game, and I’m sure they are too.”

Bulls – 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Mpilo Gumede, 7 Merwe Olivier, 6 Nizaam Carr (c), 5 Jannes Kirsten, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Dylan Smith.
Subs: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Devon Williams, 23 Lionel Mapoe.

Photo: @BlueBullsRugby/Twitter

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