Botha was last in charge of the team in 2006 and will lead them on the field at Loftus Versfeld on Friday when the Blue Bulls start their defence of the Currie Cup against the Pumas.

He is one of three Springboks starting the match and although there are no new faces in the run-on side, replacements Bees Roux, CJ Stander, Danie Faasen and Hayden Groepes will all make Currie Cup debuts for the Blue Bulls.

Roux played for Griquas and Groepes for Boland last season, while Stander and Faasen are part of the Bulls youth structure and will play at this level for the first time.

Jaco van der Westhuyzen (Japan) and Juandré Kruger (England) is back after a couple of seasons abroad and Jacques-Louis Potgieter dons the Light Blue again after two seasons with the Free State.

The Bulls try scoring machine in Super 14, Gerhard van den Heever, is back for duty after recovering from a hamstring injury and will play on the wing with stalwart John Mametsa.

Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said he expects a big effort from the Pumas and that his troops will be ready.

“They have showed in the Vodacom Cup and in the friendly against the Lions that they are a well-oiled machine.

Jimmy Stonehouse is a good coach who came out of our structures. His players are well-drilled, fit and do the basics well. They will definitely be a challenge for us and it will be a tough real Currie Cup game. It certainly won’t be easy.”

The team is: Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Gerhard van den Heever, Stephan Dippenaar, Stefan Watermeyer, John Mametsa, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Ruan Snyman, Gerrit-Jan van Velze, Derick Kuün, Deon Stegmann, Fudge Mabeta, Flip van der Merwe, Werner Kruger, Gary Botha (c), Dean Greyling.
Replacements: Bandise Maku, Bees Roux, Juandre Kruger, CJ Stander, Danie Faasen, Francois Brummer, Hayden Groepes.

?The Blue Bulls u.19-side that will play their Griffons counterparts on Friday at Loftus to open their Absa u.19 campaign was named as well. Francois Venter and Lohan Jacobs, who represented the South African u.20-side at the recent Junior World Cup in Argentina has been included as well as former SA Schools star, Lean Schwartz.

The team is: Hagen Mumba, Courtnall Skosan, Bradley Moolman, Francois Venter, Pieter Oosthuizen, Pieter van der Walt, Lohan Jacobs, Arno Botha, Lean Schwartz, JP le Grange, Jose Julies, Gerno Eksteen, Stephanus Pretorius, Bongi Mbonambi, Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: Jaques Momberg, Paul Groenewald, JJ Breedt, Sandile Ngwenya, Xander Redelinghuys, Franco Maritz, Mauritz Lombaard