Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has named seven players in the starting XV that will make the Currie Cup debut for the Pretoria outfit when they face the Golden Lions in the opening round of the competition on Saturday.

Flippie van der Merwe, Dries van Schalkwyk, Jaco Pretorius, Gerhard van den Heever, Frik Kirsten, Gerrit-Jan van Velze and Francois Brummer will make their Currie Cup debut for the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

Van der Merwe, who is the son of the former Springbok tighthead prop Flippie van der Merwe, is locking down in the second row at the side of Wilhelm Steenkamp, with Van Schalkwyk playing at No.8 in a loose trio with Emerging Springbok captain Dewald Potgieter and Jacques Burger.

Pretorius has played numerous Currie Cup matches for the Lions and appeared for the Bulls in their victorious Super 14 campaign this year, but Saturday will be his first Currie Cup outing in the light blue jersey and he will resume his successful midfield partnership with Wynand Olivier.

Ludeke opted for Van den Heever and Hougaard as his wings and he said at the weekly press conference at Loftus on Wednesday that Hougaard, who is normally as scrumhalf, has all the attributes of a wing.

"Francois has a good kicking game and I am fully confident that he will be able to stand his ground on the wing," Ludeke said.

"He can do everything a winger needs to do and he is definitely the right man for Saturday’s game."

The trio of Frik Kirsten, Gerrit-Jan van Velze and Francois Brummer are the youngsters who will make their Currie Cup debut off the bench if they get game time.

Kirsten and Van Velze are products of Afrikaans Hoër Seunsskool (Affies), while Brummer is a pupil of Waterkloof and after spending a couple of years in the Bulls' junior ranks it is good to see that they have come through the system successfully and are now ready to strut their stuff with the big boys.

The team will be captained, in the absence of Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez, by Derick Kuün and he said everyone in the squad is very excited about 2009’s Currie Cup.

"A number of us were youngsters when we started playing for the Bulls in 2007, but we have grown over the years and we are ready for the challenge that awaits us in the next couple of months.

"We are eager to perform and our goal is to win the Currie Cup. We last won the Currie Cup outright in 2004 and therefore we are desperate for success."

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Burton Francis, 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 Jaco Engels.

Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 20 Francois Brummer, 21 Marius Delport, 22 Tiger Mangweni.

Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 15.00 (13.00 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Peet Badenhorst
TMO: Shaun Veldsman

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