Rugby News (Thu): Brussow is back

The latest rugby news from around the world.

Brussow returns for Cheetahs

Springbok loose-forward, Heinrich Brussow will make a timely and welcome return to the Toyota Cheetahs as they host the Brumbies in Bloemfontein this Friday.

Brussow is amongst serveral players returning for the Bloemfontein franchise who suffered terrible injury losses throughout their campaign so far.

Adriaan Strauss will resume the captaincy for the Cheetahs while players like Frans Viljoen and Hennie Daniller will return via the bench.

Cheetahs team

15. Riaan Viljoen, 14. Philip Burger, 13. Robert Ebersohn (VC), 12. Corne Uys, 11. Riaan Smit, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Ashley Johnson, 7. Devon Raubenheimer, 6. Heinrich Brussow, 5. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4. Francois Uys, 3. WP Nel, 2. Adriaan Strauss (C), 1. Coenie Oosthuizen

Replacements: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Lourens Adriaanse, 18. Martin Muller, 19. Frans Viljoen, 20. Tewis de Bruyn, 21. Naas Olivier, 22. Hennie Daniller

Sharks retained Smit at hookers

The Sharks have decided to retain John Smit at hooker for the much anticipated coastal derby this weekend when the Sharks take on the Stormers at Newlands, Cape Town.

Smit who had an impressive outing at hooker against the Hurricanes last weekend has kept Bismarck du Plessis, who recovered from an injury, on the bench.

Another significant addition to the team sees Jean Deysel return to the team via the bench after he also recovered from an early season injury.

Sharks team:

1. Beast, 2. John Smit, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 4. Steven Sykes, 5. Ross Skeate, 6. Keegan Daniel, 7. Willem Alberts, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 9. Charl McCleod, 10. Pat Lambie, 11. JP Pietersen, 12. Meyer Bosman, 13. Stefan Terblanche, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 15. Louis Ludik.

Replacements: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Eugene van Staden, 18. Alister Hargreaves, 19. Jean Deysel, 20. Conrad Hoffmann, 21. Adi Jacobs, 22. Lwazi Mvovo

Red Bulls?

The Vodacom Bulls will wear a commemorative ‘Red’ jersey against the Chiefs this weekend in their title sponsor, Vodacom’s, rebranding exercise in what is marketed as a ‘Red Letter Day’ at Loftus.

The once-off exercise will allow fans to win the jersey’s by entering a competition in the stadium on the day.

In the press conference today the Bulls have also announced that they will try to relive the magic of playing in Soweto last year by bussing 500 fans from Orlando to Loftus to watch the Bulls.

Below, a sneak peak at the Bulls ‘Red’ Jersey’s for Saturday.

Victor Matfield and Morne Steyn shows off the new 'Red' Bulls jersey

Botha back for Bulls

Gary Botha have replaced Chiliboy Ralepelle in the starting line-up in the only change from the team that went down to the Force.

The only other change is on the bench where Gerhard van den Heever replaces Jaco van der Westhuizen.

The Bulls who are under severe pressure to get their campaign back on track has kept faith in the team that recorded a shock loss against the Force.

Bulls coach, Frans Ludeke, said earlier this week that their is no panic in the Bulls camp and that they have faith in their players and systems and only need to cut out the high error rate in execution to achieve success.

The Bulls return to Loftus this week where they will host the Chiefs.

Bulls team:

15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Bjorn Basson, 13. Stephan Dippenaar, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Francois Hougaard, 10. Morne Steyn, 9. Fourie du Preez, 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Dewald Potgieter, 6. Deon Stegmann, 5. Victor Matfield (Captain), 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Werner Kruger, 2. Gary Botha, 1. Dean Greyling

Replacements: 16. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17. Rossouw de Klerk, 18. Flip van der Merwe, 19. Danie Rossouw, 20. Derrick Kuun, 21. Francois Brummer, 22. Gerhard van den Heever

Francois Louw signs for Bath

Reports on BBC Sport suggests that Springbok and Stormers loose-forward, Francois Louw, has signed a tw0-year deal with English club Bath.

It has been no secret that the Stormers loose-forward was looking to further his career abroad after being overlooked for the Springboks for the End of Year Tour last year.  The deal was also made easier since Bath was looking to replace current loose-forward and captain, Luke Watson, who will be returning to South Africa following their current season.

If Louw does not crack the nod for the Springboks this year, he will join the club in September.

Tags: Bath Rugby, Bismarck du Plessis, Brumbies, Bulls, Bulls Red Jersey, Cheetahs, Francois Louw, Gry Botha, Heinrich Brussow, John Smit, Sharks, Stormers, Vodacom