Jamba Ulengo will make his Super Rugby debut against the Sharks at Loftus on Friday in one of two changes to the Bulls' starting XV.

Ulengo replaces Trevor Ismaiel on the right wing, while Roelof Smit comes in for Nic de Jager at openside flank.

'Jamba was one of our star players last year and deserves an opportunity,' said Bulls coach Nollis Marais. 'We have good depth among our outside backs and I am happy to give Jamba a run against the Sharks.

The Sharks have won their first three matches of the season, while the Bulls, who bounced back against the Rebels after losing to the Stormers, are coming off a bye.

'To have a bye this early in the competition has pros and cons, but we decided to look at it in a positive way,' said Marais. 'It gave us time to work on the aspects of our game that was shown up by the Stormers and Rebels and it gave the likes of Jesse a chance to get match-fit again. The Sharks will arrive at Loftus with a lot of momentum and confidence, but we need to put a stop to that if we want to be successful.'

Bulls – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Subs: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Nic de Jager, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Jesse Kriel.

Photo: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images