Rebels vs Bulls Rnd 11 Super Rugby 2012

No JOC obviously, Inman could be back.

Gerrardo's 100 Super game, big milestone.

Bulls by 30

Mortlock is back for this one. Great news.

Inman is also back, Saffy out. Obviously Danny is gone too.

Possible XV:
1. Henderson
2. Robinson
3. Blake
4. Campbell
5. Pyle
6. Jones
7. Lipman
8. Delve
9. Phipps
10. Beale
11. Vuna
12. Johansson
13. Inman
14. Mitchell
15. Gerrard (100th cap)

Jono Owen in place of Blake?

Guess they'll opt for experience. Thing is though, Bulls are the most penalized side at the scrum. Hope Beale/Gerrard have their kicking boots on.

Bulls are the most penalised full stop.

Important game for the Bulls this. They have to start their tour on a positive note and get maximum points possible. There will be a traffic jam around position 4-8 on the log towards the pointy end of the comp.

No disrespect to the Rebels but if the Bulls can't win this with a bonus point they do not deserve to make the six.

This could be bad.

The Saffer sides have toured well so far this year.

Be exciting to see how KB controls a game at 10.

He has matured since he did it for the Tahs and he took them to the finals.

Hopefully this is less painful than the Stormers game last year.

Nothing can be worse than the trip to Canberra (performance, not the drive).

does anyone know why phipps has suddenly reclaimed the 9 jersey? is it still a result of kingi's injury? don't get the selection and hope it changes this week.

Johannson's/mortlock's first touch of the ball he should make a b-line for morne.

delve v spies will be a fantastic match up. two work horses up against eachother for 80 minutes.

not overly convinced the bulls scrum is what it used to be now that bakkies and victor are gone. any thoughts on their front row from you saffers? whilst our front row is missing weeks, are we really up against it with chilliboy et al?

francois hougaard needs to be watched, so i want to see us tight and low around the rucks. we will miss saffy massively this weekend. we won't miss cipriani at all, he would be absolutely woeful against a saffer side like this.

excited for beale and looking forward to gerrard using his glorious boot to catch the bulls' back three sneaking up too far.

Our front row has never been great shakes.

No real difference this year to the last to be honest. Actually at times this year the scum has looked better (without Steenkamp at LH - that was a totally different proposition).

We will not have a good scrum for as long as Werner Kruger is at 3 and Greyling is pretty average come scrum time. We seem to almost always hang on against the stronger scrums though.

I hope the Rebels centres run to the inside channel all night. They will have Potgieter and Stander waiting there in tandem. It's not the way to beat the Bulls.

especially with spies there as well, but i'd like to see a big lug like johannson try to unsettle morne right off the bat.

Arthur, I was with you until you said Spies was a workhorse. He makes Higgers look like Brad Thorn, absolute show pony. Outrageous that Phipps keeps getting picked over Kingi, he must be an absolute beast at training, that's the only possible thing I can think of.

He certainly has been, but this 2012 season he was absolutely immense in the first 8 or so rounds especially.

I agree totally there. Everyone knows Steyn isn't the strongest defender about, but that doesn't mean running down his channel is the smart thing to do. The Bulls loose forwards love to pick off unwary travelers making the perilous journey down the flyhalf channel.

Surely Phipps 9, Beale 10, Kingi Wing, Gerard FB is the best way forward for the Rebels. They looked the best they have all year in the back with Beale running the show from 10, and that was with no O'Connor at 12 or Cipriani.

Kingi may be a better 9 than Phipps, but i'd rather Phipps 9 Kingi Wing than Kingi 9 Huxley Wing.

Brutes: Zane Kirchner (62), Akona Ndungane (75), JJ Engelbrecht (8), Wynand Olivier (94), Bjorn Basson (33), Morné Steyn (97), Francois Hougaard (36), Pierre Spies (80), Jacques Potgieter (8), CJ Stander (8), Juandré Kruger (8), Flip van der Merwe (40), Werner Kruger (66), Chiliboy Ralepelle (43), Dean Greyling (22).

Replacements: Willie Wepener (44), Frik Kirsten (10), Wilhelm Steenkamp (43), Arno Botha (5), Jano Vermaak (80), Louis Fouché (6), Johann Sadie (13).