Jesse Kriel will start at fullback when the Bulls take on the Cheetahs in Pretoria on Saturday.

Kriel replaces injured Warrick Gelant and will start his first game in the No 15 jersey this season, while Jan Serfontein is elevated from the bench to take his place at outside centre.

In other changes to the backline, Travis Ismaiel comes on to the right wing, with Jamba Ulengo shifting to the left wing in place of injured Bjorn Basson.

Among the forwards, Nic de Jager has been bracketed with Arno Botha at No 8, while the rest of the pack remains unchanged.

Bulls – 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha/Nic de Jager, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Lappies Labuschagne, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Francois Brummer, 23 SP Marais.

Photo: Shaun Roy/Gallo Images