duane vermeulen bulls super rugby 2019

Duane Vermeulen of the Bulls on his way to score a try during the 2019 Super Rugby season. Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images

Everything you need to know about the Brumbies vs Bulls

Duane Vermeulen will lead the Bulls in their Super Rugby match against the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday.

duane vermeulen bulls super rugby 2019

Duane Vermeulen of the Bulls on his way to score a try during the 2019 Super Rugby season. Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images

After beating the Rebels last weekend (32-17), the Bulls are ready to face the Brumbies at GIO Stadium in Canberra on Friday.

The Pretoria side will play their second game on tour where Duane Vermeulen will take over the captaincy.

This is due to regular captain, Handré Pollard’s calf strain picked up in training earlier this week. He will also be returning to South Africa.

Head coach Pote Human called JT Jackson onto the bench in place of the promoted Libbok. The rest of the matchday squad that played against the Rebels last week, remain unchanged.

Human said Libbok, who started for the Bulls against the Jaguares earlier in the season, has big shoes to fill but certainly has the ability and skills to help the team achieve a second win on tour.

“He would not be around if he was not good enough, that is for sure. Handré is probably the leading 10 in the world at the moment, so to take over from him is not easy, but Manie has done well for us when he took to the field this year and I have the utmost confidence in him this weekend. He is an exciting young talent and we are looking forward to watching him grow.”

For Vermeulen, the defensive effort that the squad showed last week, must be repeated.

“We defended very well when under severe pressure and the Brumbies are going to test us the same way. They are so skilled and determined, we cannot let our guard down or we will pay the price,” he said.

Brumbies team and injury news

Rory Arnold is returning to the Brumbies’ squad this Friday. Rob Valentini is also back in the matchday squad and could provide some much-needed ball carry punch in the latter stages. 

Valetini is part of a six forward two back split for the Brumbies bench, which should tell you everything you need to know about how Dan McKellar expects things to go.

Brumbies: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Christian Lealiifano (c), 9 Joe Powell, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Jahrome Brown, 6 Tom Cusack, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio

Substitutes: 16 Connal Mcinerney, 17 James Slipper, 18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Murray Douglas, 21 Rob Valetini, 22 Ryan Lonergan, 23 Tom Wright

Bulls team and injury news

Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Andre Warner, 8 Duane Vermeulen (c), 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka

Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Jannes Kirsten, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 JT Jackson, 23 Divan Rossouw

Kick off time

Friday, 24 May at 11:45 (SAST).

TV & Live Stream

The game will be broadcast live on SuperSport 1 (SS1).