Bulls–Ulster: Coetzee returns as captain, pack reshuffled
Marcell Coetzee takes back the Bulls captaincy on Saturday 24 October in Pretoria. Against his former club, he will lead a remodelled pack in front of an unchanged half-back pairing.
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Marcell Coetzee is back as Bulls captain for the visit of Ulster on Saturday 24 October at Loftus Versfeld. The round four fixture in the United Rugby Championship, the league that brings together South African and Irish franchises among others, kicks off at 13:45 in Pretoria, which is 12:45 in Brazzaville. For Johan Ackermann, the challenge is a practical one: refreshing his pack while keeping reference points in the way the team directs play.
The return of the back-row forward gives this game a particular edge. Coetzee spent five seasons at Ulster before joining the Bulls in 2021. He now faces a club that played a significant part in his career, this time with the responsibility of leading the Pretoria side. His return to the starting XV comes with a change of position for Elrigh Louw, who is picked at number eight, at the base of the scrum.
New faces up front, continuity behind
Up front, Ackermann sets out Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Francois Klopper in the front row. Ruan Vermaak and Reinhardt Ludwig make up the second row, while Hanro Liebenberg lines up alongside Coetzee and Louw in the back row. The question will be how these combinations secure possession and the first support play: attacking continuity also depends on these less visible tasks.
The stability lies more in the backs. Paul de Wet stays paired with Handré Pollard at half-back, the two positions that organise most of the distribution and the kicking decisions. Harold Vorster and Sango Xamlashe are retained in the centres. Cheswill Jooste and Sebastian de Klerk are on the wings, with Luan Giliomee at fullback. The Bulls therefore keep their backline intact while redistributing responsibilities up front.
This home game comes after their 56–20 win over Stade Français in the Champions Cup the previous week. The switch of competition means turning that European success into league points. Against Ulster, the first thing to watch will therefore be the link between the reshaped pack and the De Wet–Pollard pairing: the ball supplied to the half-backs will show whether the rotation preserves the fluency of Pretoria's play.