Recovering Olivier in for Bulls

WYNAND OLIVIER has been named in the Bulls starting line-up for the Super 14 final against the Chiefs on Saturday, despite having yet to recover from a hip injury that kept him out of the semi-final last week.

The South Africa centre, who picked up the knock against the Sharks in the last game of the league phase 10 days ago, was also selected in the team to play the Crusaders last weekend only to withdraw the day before the game.

He will now face a late fitness test in order to determine his availability for the title-decider against the New Zealanders at Loftus Versfeld.

The signs are all positive, though, for the Pretoria franchise after Olivier ran with the rest of his team earlier today.

Meanwhile, impressive centre Richard Kahui looks set for a return to the Chiefs’ starting line-up for the final. Kahui, who has missed the past two matches because of a calf injury, had his first training run Tuesday and suffered no ill-effects.

“I was actually a bit nervous because I wasn’t sure how well it was going to be after the plane flight but it’s going pretty well at the moment,” he said.

The 23-year-old, who is expected to be named in Graham Henry’s New Zealand squad on Sunday, admitted to a few nervous moments during his side’s tense 14-10 semi-final win against the Hurricanes at a packed Waikato Stadium last weekend as well.

BULLS (v Chiefs): Z Kirchner; A Ndungane, J Pretorius/M Delport , W Olivier/J Pretorius, B Habana; M Steyn, F du Preez; P Spies, D Potgieter, D Stegmann, V Matfield, B Botha, W Kruger, D Kuun, G Steenkamp.

Replacements: C Ralepelle, R Gerber, D Rossouw, P Wannenburg, H Adams, B Francis, M Delport/G van den Heever.