Luan Giliomee starts at fullback in Bulls vs Stade Français team

Luan Giliomee will wear the Bulls' No 15 jersey for the first time when the Pretoria side start their Champions Cup campaign against Stade Français at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday 17 October. Willie le Roux drops to the bench to make way for him.

Coach Johan Ackermann is handing out two debuts. Giliomee, who joins from the Sharks, has already played for SA A, the Springbok Sevens and the SA under-20 side this season.

The Bulls named their match 23 on Thursday 15 October, the first of the tournament's other sides to do so. Kick-off in their opening Investec Champions Cup match is at 14h00.

Pollard takes over at flyhalf

Handré Pollard starts at flyhalf for the first time this season and will partner Paul de Wet at halfback. He comes in for Curwin Bosch in a straight swap. On the wing, Cheswill Jooste replaces Canan Moodie, who has concussion.

Cobus Wiese partners JF van Heerden at lock, and Khutha Mchunu, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Alulutho Tshakweni form a new front row.

Moving on from the Lions win

The Bulls go into the match after a big URC win over the Lions the previous weekend, and Ackermann wants his players to leave it behind them. "The challenge is to forget about last week's performance," he said.

He also said the French side would be hard to read. "Stade Français are so unpredictable. They can score from anywhere, including lineouts, and they've got a good set-piece."

The Bulls are not the only South African side at home that Saturday. The Stormers host the Bristol Bears in Cape Town.

A long road to May

No team based in South Africa has ever reached the Champions Cup semi-finals. Toulouse have won the title six times, more than any other club in the competition's 32-year history. The pool stage has one round in October, one in December and two in early January 2027, and finals weekend is on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 May 2027. All the dates are on our fixtures page.

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