Lock Lood de Jager has been named in the Vodacom Blue Bulls starting lineup for Saturday’s Currie Cup match against Western Province in Cape Town.

De Jager, who missed a large portion of the Bulls’ Vodacom Super Rugby campaign after he was ruled out with a shoulder injury in March, will return to action in Cape Town. His timely return comes as a welcome boost to the Bulls’ relatively young pack.

Meanwhile, Boks Cornal Hendricks (wing) and Embrose Papier (scrumhalf) headline the backline selection, while Ivan van Zyl, Marnitz Boshoff and Dylan Sage will provide cover off the bench.

Blue Bulls – 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johnny Kötze, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Wian Vosloo, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Ruan Nortjé, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Subs: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Matthys Basson, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Jean Droste, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Dylan Sage.

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images