Ken Borland

The Cheetahs may have been the only team to beat them this season, but as Bulls coach Jake White pointed out, it is a very different Free State team that is coming to Loftus Versfeld for their Currie Cup match on Saturday and they have to endure a bus ride from Bloemfontein to Pretoria before the game.

The Cheetahs edged the Bulls 19-17 on October 16 at Free State Stadium, but they will be missing eight starters, including five forwards and veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, from that game on Saturday. The Bulls will also feel that they wasted several opportunities to win that first meeting with the Cheetahs and they have also grown considerably as a team since then, with the confidence of winning Super Rugby Unlocked.

“Free State are a different team, they’ve lost a couple of props in Charles Marais and Luan de Bruin, they’ve lost Oupa Mohoje, Walt Steenkamp [playing for the Bulls now], Junior Pokomela and Jasper Wiese. I know what it’s like – you make a couple of changes to your team and you think you’ve lost your rhythm. Plus to come here they have to spend four/five hours on a bus, like we did going there.

“So it’s not ideal for the Cheetahs and if there is rain as forecast then I think they may be vulnerable at forward. But I’m also wary of them because they are the Currie Cup champions, they are very well coached and they play with tempo and pace. They have such good players that they can do the same game-plan even if they’re missing a lot of guys, and they play with a lot of pride,” White said.

The Cheetahs also had their challenge for the Super Rugby Unlocked title made more difficult by Covid-19 and coach Hawies Fourie has made no bones about his team wanting to launch their defence of the Currie Cup crown in style, after they had a bye on the opening weekend.

White is also resting some first-choice players like wing Travis Ismaiel, scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl, lock Ruan Nortje and tighthead Trevor Nyakane, but he has full confidence in the youngsters replacing them. With one eye firmly on a European future, the likes of wing Marco Jansen van Vuren, lock Sintu Manjezi, centre Marnus Potgieter and props Gerhard Steenekamp and Jan-Hendrik Wessels will want to start long and successful careers at Loftus Versfeld.

If White is correct and the Bulls do get the ascendancy up front, then their brilliant loose trio of Vermeulen, Van Staden and Botha can do serious damage and the Bulls have the backline to capitalise.

Teams

Bulls: Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Morné Steyn, Embrose Papier, Duane Vermeulen (c), Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Walt Steenkamp, Sintu Manjezi, Marcel van der Merwe, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements – Corniel Els, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Trevor Nyakane, Ruan Nortje, Nizaam Carr, Ivan van Zyl, Chris Smith, Marnus Potgieter. 

Cheetahs: Clayton Blommetjies, Rhyno Smith, Howard Mnisi, Frans Steyn, Rosko Specman, Tian Schoeman, Tian Meyer, Jeandré Rudolph, Victor Sekekete, Andisa Ntsila, Carl Wegner (captain), Ian Groenewald, Khutha Mchunu, Reinach Venter, Boan Venter. Replacements – Jacques du Toit, Cameron Dawson, Erich de Jager, Chris Massyn, George Cronjé, Ruben de Haas, Reinhardt Fortuin, William Small-Smith.

Kickoff: 4.30pm.

Not changing a winning side used to be a mantra in rugby, but seasoned Bulls coach Jake White knows that a constant reliance on certain players could cause problems further down the line, which is why he has made eight changes to the team that registered an incredible win, with 14 men, last weekend over Western Province for their Currie Cup match against the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Regulars such as wing Travis Ismaiel, scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl, lock Ruan Nortje and tighthead Trevor Nyakane are all being rested, while White said captain Duane Vermeulen will hopefully be given time off over the Christmas period. White made a point of saying at Thursday’s team announcement though that he is wary of the Cheetahs, and Van Zyl, Nortje and Nyakane are all on the bench should the Bulls get into trouble.

But with the impressive David Kriel moving to wing to replace Ismaiel, there is the excitement of Kurt-Lee Arendse playing fullback, Springbok Embrose Papier gets a start at No.9 in the sort of high-tempo game he enjoys, the lock pairing of Walt Steenkamp and Sintu Manjezi both began the year in the Free State, and props Marcel van der Merwe and Gerhard Steenekamp, replacing the suspended Jacques van Rooyen, both deserve a start.

“It’s a bit of both wanting to rest guys and see how some new combinations go,” White said on Thursday. “I can’t keep playing the same guys, we’re not going to get away with that. I know things are working at the moment, but if we get to the playoffs and we haven’t tried any other combinations then we could be in trouble. What happens if someone gets Covid?

“There’s also a much bigger picture and we’re highly unlikely to get away with the same 23-man squad in Europe next year. So we have to get the guys game-ready and one of these new faces could play in a Currie Cup final, you never know. So I’d like to see these different combinations we’re trying and the guys are incredibly positive about the changes,” White said.

White has kept faith with the brilliant surprise packet centre pairing of Cornal Hendricks and Stedman Gans, and seems to have become a real cheerleader for the Sevens stars who have switched to XVs. He was particularly excited about playing Arendse at fullback.

“Like all the Sevens players, Kurt-Lee has incredible all-round skills and work-ethic. Not many fullbacks are putting their hands up in South African rugby and I would like to see him with more space and time. He can kick with both feet so he won’t get cornered and he’s done phenomenal things in training. He has unbelievable feet and if we can unearth another fullback like Gio Aplon, his idol, and Cheslin Kolbe, then it can only be good for the union,” White said.

With the security of knowing he has his office at Loftus Versfeld through to 2023, White knows the importance of blooding the next generation of players to ensure continued success for the Bulls.

“I’m quite fortunate that I have a long-term deal and part of my job is to get things in place for the next couple of seasons. Guys like Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Marnus Potgieter are on the bench this weekend and I have said that I will bring them through the system. I will keep my word to them and they need to get game time,” White said.

Bulls: Kurt-Lee Arendse, David Kriel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Morné Steyn, Embrose Papier, Duane Vermeulen (c), Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Walt Steenkamp, Sintu Manjezi, Marcel van der Merwe, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements – Corniel Els, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Trevor Nyakane, Ruan Nortje, Nizaam Carr, Ivan van Zyl, Chris Smith, Marnus Potgieter.

Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith said on Monday that the team’s culture and care for each other was the source of their incredible determination that took them to a remarkable 22-20 victory over Western Province in their Currie Cup clash at Newlands at the weekend, despite the visitors having to play with 14 men for the last 35 minutes.

Smith was a key figure in the Bulls’ first triumph in Cape Town since 2009, not only kicking an angled last-minute conversion to win the match, but also shining in the final quarter with a couple of telling breaks and generally taking control of the contest.

“The hunger was obviously there in the team to fight to the end and to pull through for the win showed our desperation, our hunger and that we play for each other. That’s thanks to the culture of the team, we really care for each other. It was an incredible feeling because the Bulls have not beaten Western Province at Newlands in 11 years and I was 15 years old when Morne Steyn made the kick to win that one, at school just down the road at SACS.

“And for me to now make the winning kick was a very special moment in my career, an awesome feeling and I was very chuffed. I missed a similar one against the Free State Cheetahs, having been put on after Morne had kicked well from the start. Those are the big moments that you want to step up, but I learnt from it and moved forward, and I’m stoked it didn’t happen twice,” Smith said.

Smith admitted that it helped not having the usual passionate Newlands crowd cheering on Western Province … and trying to distract the opposition kicker at such a key moment.

“A big crowd can definitely fiddle with your mindset a bit, so it was nice to be able to kick in peace. But we’re a few games in now without having crowds so it has become normal. But a lot of players do get energy from the crowd, they find it highly motivating. The kick was a bit of a blur for me, but I tried to just stick to my process and I knew I had put in the prep.

“I’ve been very lucky to have a mentor like Morne Steyn, I learn from him daily. He’s been playing incredible rugby and is probably the form flyhalf in the country right now. So I’m just being a sponge because he’s a Springbok legend and an even bigger legend off the field, I just follow and learn from him. Having good players around me definitely makes life easier,” Smith said.

Knitting together a team that could win the Super Rugby Unlocked competition was coach Jake White’s first job, but this weekend the Bulls showed that they also have incredible character as they opened their Currie Cup campaign with a stunning victory over Western Province at Newlands despite playing with only 14 men for 35 minutes.

The Bulls were already up against it as Western Province’s powerful Springbok front row put plenty of heat on them at the scrums, and the home team were thoroughly dominating both territory and possession. And then loosehead prop Jacques van Rooyen was harshly red-carded for a poor tackle that was a bit late and didn’t have a lot of arms being used, but it was not the head-high cheap shot referee AJ Jacobs talked TMO Rasta Rasivhenge into seeing.

But the cruel blow galvanised the Bulls and they snatched a 22-20 win at the death to win at Newlands for the first time since 2009.

“It shows a lot of character to play with 14 men for 35 minutes against Western Province and still get the result. The players can be exceptionally proud and this result will probably stay in the memory banks for a long time. I told the players afterwards to just enjoy it. That sort of character comes from within, from the group itself.

“If everyone is happy and everyone feels part of the team then you can get that sort of result. People talk about the culture of a team and we are clearly a tight unit. I’m very proud of what they did. When we got the red card, I just said we must keep believing, I’ve been in similar positions before and I remember when I was with the Sharks we beat the Crusaders with 14 men in Christchurch. So I know it’s possible, but if you don’t believe, it won’t happen,” White said after the game.

While White, and most observers including a died-in-the-wool Western Province supporter like Schalk Burger senior on social media, felt the red card was not a fair decision, the Bulls coach seemed more concerned about a breakdown in the machines that are meant to relay all the officials’ decisions into the coach’s box.

“I heard the conversation between the referee and TMO and then all of a sudden it was switched off. But it sounded almost as if there was not agreement between the two. I don’t think a red card was justifiable, I’m not happy with the decision because Warrick Gelant was not hit on the head but on the shoulder.

“I was confused about the conversation the referee had with the TMO and then they turned the referee’s microphone off. But if you’re not 100% sure then it surely can’t be a red card … and then suddenly it was. There was a bit of inconsistency with other penalties as well, the breakdown was untidy, but we understood we weren’t going to get reward there and you have to take the good with the bad ones,” White said.