Bulls captain Burger Odendaal is among nine players who have extended their contracts with the Pretoria-based franchise.

Odendaal has committed to the team until 2020, while fellow seniors RG Snyman and Jason Jenkins, as well as breakthrough star Marco van Staden, will remain with the Bulls until 2019.

A host of young talent including Hendre Stassen (contracted until 2021), Ruan Steenkamp (2019), Tinus de Beer (2019), Abongile Nonkontwana (2019) and Duncan Matthews (2020) all confirmed their loyalty to the franchise.

Bulls high-performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg expressed his delight that the players chose to stay at the union.

‘It is an impressive list of players who opted to stay with us,’ Janse van Rensburg said. ‘We are humbled by their decision, because it means that we are doing something right.

‘All these individuals have ambitions to play at the highest level and rightly so, as they are outstanding players. It means a lot to our structures and confidence to know that they feel those ambitions can be realised while playing their rugby in Pretoria.’

Janse van Rensburg confirmed that negotiations with other players are continuing.

‘I am happy to say that we are well on track with extending the contracts of other players near the end of their term. We are also currently exploring options and looking at players outside of the franchise as well.’

The Bulls later announced that young centre JT Jackson (2019) and hooker Jaco Visagie (2020) had also extended their stays.

Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images