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'I feel that we get the short end of the stick a lot of times in South Africa'
By
Chris Jones
Veteran Schalk Brits, who will be 38-years-old on May 16, wants to see an overhaul of the Super Rugby judicial committee hearing system after enduring a four-week ban following his sending off against the Sharks.
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Brits relaunches his bid to force his way into the Springboks World Cup squad in Japan this Friday when the Bulls face the Crusaders at Loftus Versfeld after the ban which he believed was harsh. “I think going forward there needs to be changes made as to how they apply rules‚” he said. “Sometimes you feel that‚ ‘How can a guy in Australia get two weeks and a guy in South Africa get four weeks?’ As a rugby player‚ I feel that we get the short end of the stick a lot of times in South Africa. I really think they need to reassess the process.
“You are penalising me for a record that I got four years ago. Do I think that is fair? Maybe not‚ but it happened and I can’t do anything about it now. But I did ask them to have a proper look at it. Rugby is a fair game and if you look at the incident from beginning to the end‚ their outcome should not have been what it was – but I made peace with it quickly.”
Brits goes straight back into the Bulls front row and head coach Pote Human is also able recall fit again Jason Jenkins. Human said; “Schalk has been itching to play for the last couple of weeks and he will be very keen. Jason also recovered well and looked very sharp in training. Both are players of international standard, so it is great to have them back. Our pack will need to step up to the plate if we want to contain the Crusaders and these two are certainly capable of adding to that.”
Vodacom Bulls captain, Handré Pollard, wants to end this phase of the tournament by knocking over the Crusaders stating: “We travel overseas after this and will only be back at Loftus next month, so this is a very important match for us. We need to do well here in order to maintain our log position and to get some momentum for the tour. Everyone realises what is at stake.”
Brits, who has made a major impact since coming out of retirement following 10 years at Saracens, and Jenkins fill the roles previously held by Jaco Visagie and Jannes Kirsten. Visagie drops to the bench and Kirsten moves into the number 7 jersey in place of the injured Hanro Liebenberg..
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In a rotational change Ivan van Zyl drops out of the match 23 and will be replaced by André Warner at scrumhalf in the starting team, while Warner’s place on the bench is taken by Embrose Papier.
Burger Odendaal, who was a late withdrawal from last weekend’s clash against the Waratahs, has been declared fit and he will start at centre in place of Dylan Sage, who drops out of the match day squad altogether.
Odendaal and Kotze will man the midfield against the New Zealand outfit.
Watch: Bulls coach Pote Human and captain Handre Pollard ahead of Crusaders clash
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