Bulls captain Reinhardt Ludwig ready for ‘massive test’ against Connacht

Playing just his second match in six months, Reinhardt Ludwig acknowledged the tough task ahead as he prepares to lead the Bulls against Connacht in Friday night’s United Rugby Championship fixture.

The 23-year-old utility forward takes the reins after a lengthy injury lay-off and on the back of coach Johan Ackermann making sweeping changes to his team after Bulls president Willem Strauss described last week’s loss to Ulster as “arguably our worst performance since joining the URC”.

Ludwig played from the bench that day – his first game since suffering a herniated disc in April – but now replaces Johan Grobbelaar as captain, with the latter on the bench this time. David Kriel is Ludwig’s vice-captain.

Ackermann made 11 changes to his starting XV, including two in the front row, and has six new inclusions on the bench.

‘We will definitely bounce back’

The coach explained on Wednesday that he was still testing combinations. Still, he backed his greater squad to have what it takes to beat Connacht in Galway (kick-off 8.45pm).

The Bulls have defeated Connacht in three of their four meetings. But they have lost their last two away games, and are at risk of losing three consecutive away fixtures for the first time since October 2023.

“We are hurting from last week’s loss but we know where it went wrong and I am sure we will bounce back this week with some great character,” Ludwig said, also on Wednesday.

“It’s always tough to travel and there were lots of new combinations last week. Again, this week there are a lot of changes. For us, it is to focus on what we can control.

“We know what went wrong last week: A couple of errors with the yellow card [Jeandré Rudolph] and three quick tries that were slipped. But they are all fixables and things we can control… We will definitely bounce back.”

Bulls focus on set-piece for Connacht clash

The lock said while they could draw some confidence from beating Connacht in previous seasons, “what happened in the past is in the past”.

The Bulls captain said they faced a formidable Irish side while the area’s temperamental weather could prove challenging. Still, they had to focus on the things they could control.

Ludwig said the Pretoria union would stick to their set-piece strength to provide front-foot ball for the backline. “And the rest will take care of itself,” he said.

Bulls starting XV: Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, David Kriel (VC), Jan Serfontein, Sebastian de Klerk, Keagan Johannes, Paul de Wet, Jeandre Rudolph, JJ Theron, Nama Xaba, Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), Cobus Wiese, Wilco Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Alu Tshakweni. Bench: Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Francois Klopper, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Mpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs.