Ardron starts for Chiefs against Bulls

Tyler Ardron continues at the back of the scrum for the Chiefs on Saturday as they head to Pretoria to take on the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. It’s the Canadian’s fifth start of the season for the Hamilton-based Super Rugby franchise.

The Chiefs are still searching for their first win of the season but at least earned a draw against the Hurricanes last week. Changes up front see two All Black props switch with Angus Ta’avao starting at the expense of Nepo Laulala. Mitchell Brown moves to lock, and there are new flankers in Luke Jacobson and Lachlan Boshier.

Jack Debreczeni starts at flyhalf in place of Marty McKenzie, and Solomon Alaimalo takes over on the left wing for Ata’ata Moeakiola. Added to the bench are prop Tevita Mafileo and loose fowrad Jesse Parete, with Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi making it two All Blacks in reserve.

The Bulls are the top team in the South African conference and tied for third overall. A number of Springbok stars will feature including hooker Schalk Brits and Duane Vermeulen up front. Handré Pollard captains the side in the absence of Lood de Jager, and Jesse Kriel runs out in the midfield with sevens standouts Rosko Specman and Cornal Hendricks on the wing.

Kickoff is set for 3pm local time, 6am Pacific, 9am Eastern. Canadians can watch live on TSN.ca.

BULLS
1 Lizo Gqoboka, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 4 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Jason Jenkins, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 10 Handré Pollard, 11 Rosko Specman, 12 Burger Odendaal, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 15 Divan Rossouw

Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Tim Agaba, 21 Emprose Papier, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Dylan Sage

CHIEFS
1 Aidan Ross, 2 Nathan Harris, 3 Angus Ta’vao, 4 Brodie Retallick (capt.), 5 Mitchell Brown, 6 Luke Jacobson, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 8 Tyler Ardron, 9 Brad Weber, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 13 Tumua Manu, 14 Sean Wainui, 15 Damian McKenzie

Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tevita Mafileo, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Michael Allardice, 20 Jesse Parete, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Ata’ata Moeakiola

Date: Saturday, March 23
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kickoff: 15:00 local (06:00 Pacific, 09:00 Eastern)
Referee: AJ Jacobs (SARU)
Assistants: Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU) & Stephan Elenchus (SARU)
TMO: Willie Vos (SARU)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, TSN.ca