Liebenberg and Gelant recalled to Bulls starting line-up

Bulls coach Pote Human has recalled Hanro Liebenberg and Warrick Gelant to the starting line-up for the Super Rugby clash against the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.

Liebenberg and Gelant missed last week’s defeat to the Crusaders at Loftus but they have now recovered from their respective injuries.

They will be tasked with the responsibility of helping the Bulls to start their four-week tour on a positive note.

“Our performance against the Rebels will be a crucial indicator of our prospects for the rest of the season‚” Human said from their base in Melbourne.

“We need to start the tour well‚ but more importantly‚ we need to get some self-respect back after our poor showing in front of the Loftus faithful last weekend.

“We owe it to them‚ but also to ourselves to show some intent and some desire to win this competition.”

Gelant replaces Divan Rossouw at fullback and Liebenberg takes over from Jannes Kirsten at flank.

Another change sees Paul Schoeman start at blindside in place of Marco van Staden who has been moved to the bench.

Bulls captain Handré Pollard said they would have to be at their best if they are to return to winning ways against the Rebels‚ a side that has proved to be quite good during the season.

“To be fair‚ we showed that we have a couple of areas to improve upon‚” he said. “That said‚ the one thing about this squad you cannot fault is to take it on the chin and then just work harder.

“We all want to be there at the end of the race‚ we want to play in the knock-out phase and then the final.

“I believe we have the players to do exactly that.”