Bulls v Western Force: Teams

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has made just one change from the side that edged out the Chiefs last week.

Outside centre Jaco Pretorius rotates with JP Nel, who in turn drops to the bench for the Round Twelve clash in Pretoria.

The only other change is on the bench where lock Wilhelm Steenkamp comes in for prop Jaco Engels, meaning the Bulls will only have two players in Chiliboy Ralepelle and Rayno Gerber amongst the replacements able to play in the front row.

"We are rotating some of the players and by doing this we are managing their careers and they all know it is in the best interest of the team," said Ludeke.

"For this weekend's clash we back Jaco [Pretorius] and the same goes for Wilhelm Steenkamp.

"Wilhelm had a great game against the Brumbies and we are going to need him on Saturday and that meant Jaco Engels had to move out of the 22.

"The players know why this is done and they trust the system."

Wykes out

Force have had to make a late change to their starting XV after lock Sam Wykes failed a fitness test on his injured shoulder.

Tom Hockings will take his place alongside skipper Nathan Sharpe in the second row with Richard Stanford on the bench.

Coach John Mitchell has also retained two reserve props in AJ Whalley and Gareth Hardy, the latter making way for the return of Pek Cowan at the loosehead position after starting against the Lions.

Mitchell said his side will face a hostile environment as they attempt to continue their momentum through the latter half of the season.

"Loftus Versfeld is one of the toughest venues to play on in the Super 14 and with the Bulls performing well there will be a big home crowd there in support of them this weekend," he said.

"The Bulls are a team that revels in the big matches and it's an exciting challenge for us."

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana; 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.

Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 JP Nel.

Western Force: 15 Drew Mitchell, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Cameron Shepherd, 10 Matt Giteau , 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe (c), 4 Tom Hockings, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tai McIsaac, 1 Pek Cowan.

Replacements: 16 Ben Whittaker, 17 AJ Whalley, 18 Gareth Hardy, 19 Richard Stanford, 20 Tamaiti Horua, 21 Josh Tatupu, 22 Haig Sare.