Springbok wing and former International Rugby Board Player of the Year Bryan Habana has been named in the Blues Bulls starting XV for their Currie Cup crunch match against Griquas in Pretoria on Saturday.

The encounter at Loftus Versfeld will be Habana's first Currie Cup start of the season, after returning from another very succesful international season.

Habana (No.11) and Francois Hougaard (No.14) will be on the wings for the Bulls - with the youthful Gerhard van den Heever, who has played centre, fullback and wing for the Bulls' junior teams, dropping down to the replacement bench.

Coach Frans Ludeke kept the rest of his starting XV, which outsmarted the Free State Cheetahs last week, unchanged.

However, on the bench Bandise Maku replaces the injured Springbok Chiliboy Ralepelle and tighthead prop Rossouw de Klerk comes in for Ross Geldenhuys, whilst Flip van der Merwe and Wilhelm Steenkamp swaps places in terms of the team's rotation policy.

Captain Victor Matfield said at the weekly press conference, which was held at Loftus on Wednesday, that Habana brings a new vibe to the squad and he is very glad to see him back in the team.

"Bryan is always a very positive guy and he has the ability to motivate those around him," Matfield said.

"He hasn't won a Currie Cup yet and he is working extremely hard to help us reach our goals."

Matfield added that only a 100 percent effort will do against the Griquas and he believes a victory will ensure a place in the play-offs.

"The Griquas are always very dangerous and we need to up our game from last week if we want to stand a chance on Saturday.

"They have played very well thus far and they are quite confident and therefore we need to have a real good start and put them under pressure from the word go."

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Francois Brummer, 21 John Mametsa, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.

Date: Saturday, 3 October
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Michael Cupido

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