Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has named South African Under-20 flyhalf Francois Brummer in his starting XV for the big north-south Currie Cup derby with Western Province in Pretoria on Saturday.

Brummer, who is a product of Hoërskool Waterkloof and has been playing for the Bulls' junior teams since his schooldays, replaces Burton Francis in the starting XV. Brummer made his Currie Cup debut as a first-half replacement for Francis in the first half of the Bulls' 19-13 win over the Lions last Saturday.

Ludeke said at the weekly media gathering on Wednesday that Francis has been ruled out through injury.

"It took Francois a few minutes to find his feet, but he did very well in the latter parts of the match and I was quite impressed by him," Ludeke said.

"He finished strong and I am confident that he will be able to do the job for us against Province."

The other changes in the starting XV is at fullback, with Tiger Mangweni replacing the injured Zane Kirchner, and the front row, where discarded Springbok Gurthrö Steenkamp replaces Jaco Engels at loosehead prop.

Ludeke opted for a five-forward-two-backs bench - which includes an entire front row in Engels, Bandise Maku and Frik Kirsten, with the Under-19 flyhalf JC Roos as one of two backline replacements.

Roos played at the Cravenweek tournament for the Bulls in 2008 and was quite influential for Tukkies earlier this year in the Varsity Cup.

He is a goal-kicker of note and also capable of playing at fullback.

It was only after lengthy discussions that the coaches decided to go with Roos and not the Under-21 flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff.

Ludeke said that Boshoff carried an ankle injury throughout the week and that was one of the main reasons why Roos was selected on the bench.

Blue Bulls: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün (captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Jaco Engels, 19 Fudge Mabeta, 20 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 21 JC Roos, 22 Marius Delport.

Date: Saturday, July 18
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant referees: Tiaan Jonker/Lourens van der Merwe, Christie du Preez
TMO: Johann Meuwesen

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