New Bulls recruit Lood de Jager will start against the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday.

De Jager, who gained 40 Super Rugby caps for the Cheetahs, has been named along with five Springboks players in the starting team which includes Jesse Kriel, Jamba Ulengo, Handré Pollard, Rudy Paige, and Jacques Potgieter.

De Jager is one of four newcomers to the Bulls team. Edgar Marutlulle and Jacobie Adriaanse (both Lions and Kings) have already played at this level and will make their Bulls debuts when called upon from the bench, while back-up flanker, Ruan Steenkamp will make his Bulls and Super Rugby debut if he takes to the field.

Pollard will lead the team for the first time as captain and make his first appearance in Super Rugby since May 2015, when he played against the Brumbies in Canberra.

Super Rugby preview: Round 1 (Part 1)

‘You need to beat the best teams in the competition if you want to win it and to be honest, there will be no easy games,’ Bulls coach Nollis Marais commented.

‘The Stormers will pose a massive challenge, no doubt, but that will be a good benchmark for us at the start of our campaign. We have realistic expectations this year and with a good start, we believe we can still be involved come the final weekends.’

Bulls – 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Handre Pollard (c), 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Nick de Jager, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Trevor Nyakane , 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Edgar Marutlelle, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Lizo Gqoboka, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Ruan Steenkamp, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Warrick Gelant