Ken Borland

New Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee might not go so far as to consider Sean Everitt as something akin to an uncle, but the Sharks coach admitted it is going to be tough seeing his former protégé leading the opposition in their decisive Rainbow Cup match in Durban on Saturday.

Coetzee started his professional career with the Sharks, having been schooled at Port Natal High School, and it was Everitt, then in charge of youth rugby at Kings Park, who guided him through the process of being a talented player from an unfashionable rugby school, through age group rugby to being nominated for SA Rugby’s Young Player of the Year award in 2012. Three years later Coetzee made his Springbok debut and he moved to Ulster in 2016, where he established himself as a superstar.

“Marcell will always have a special place in Sharks fans’ hearts and it’s going to be quite sore to see him captain the Bulls after we brought him through from Port Natal. He was magnificent last weekend and he’s been very good for Ulster too. But our guys want to prove themselves against the best and he’s certainly been one of the best in Europe.

“Marcell is motivated every week he puts on a rugby jersey, but he probably sees a bit of a gap in the Springbok set-up with Duane Vermeulen’s injury, and I’m sure there was a lot of disappointment at being left out so I have no doubt he wants to really put his hand up against us,” Everitt said.

Bulls coach Jake White is never shy to milk any sort of psychological advantage he can get and he was not slow to point out the difficulties facing the Sharks as they look to beat the Bulls with a bonus point,  while also denying the visitors any log points, if Everitt is to take his team to Treviso next week for the Rainbow Cup final rather than to Kimberley for their Currie Cup opener.

”The Sharks are a good side, probably the one side that has consistently really pushed us and they play  a solid, certain style of rugby. They will be motivated because they have to beat us comfortably, but in trying to play a bit differently, there’s the risk that they will present us with opportunities if their efforts don’t come off.

“If you try and run everything and you’ve never trained that way, then it could lead to disaster. It’s going to be interesting to see how they adapt to that. We know we just need one point, which we get if we score four tries, so we will also be going flat out for that. It’s like 50-over cricket, you know you can bat through the overs, but you need to score runs as well,” White said.

Apart from the daunting task of trying to make the Rainbow Cup final, the Sharks are adamant that they cannot brook the thought of the Bulls beating them on their home turf when they meet in the crunch final round of South African Pro14 fixtures in Durban on Saturday.

In order to top the South African standings and get to travel to Italy to take on Benneton Treviso, the Sharks have to win the game with a bonus point and deny the Bulls any log points. And they need to do that with a side weakened by what coach Sean Everitt described as “a few niggles we are trying to push through”.

Because of that, their bench will only be announced on Friday, “once we have more clarity on injuries”, but the starting line-up revealed on Thursday is missing wing Sbu Nkosi and loose forward Henco Venter and there are concerns over the two reserve props, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Wiehahn Herbst.

But Everitt says the Sharks will not be lying down even if their Rainbow Cup hopes are dashed because they have endured some painful defeats in Pretoria over the last year and they don’t want to suffer the same fate at home.

“Psychologically it’s important that we lead on the scoreboard at the end of the day, and I’ve told the players that we first have to win the game anyway and then go for the bonus point. The players want to make Kings Park a fortress, although we narrowly let that slip against the Stormers. They were disappointed with how we went down in the last 20 minutes of the last game against the Bulls in Pretoria.

“But we have also won games coming from behind at the death and the players want to show their character. It’s important we get one over the Bulls regardless of whether we qualify for the final or not. We were narrowly beaten by the Bulls in the Currie Cup final and we want to bounce back and turn the tide against them. The energy and motivation this week is the best it’s been,” Everitt said.

After the impressive win over the Lions last weekend, it has taken a bit of finesse in selection for Everitt to both reward the players who shone at Ellis Park and reintegrate his Springboks.

“We took a changed team to the Lions, where we had to get the bonus point win which is never easy, and the guys really turned up and did very well. So this is another opportunity for many of them and they are good enough for that, we just want to build on that performance.

“But it’s also about my relationship with the international players and I never question their efforts. They got us to where we are now, many of them are world champions and a guy like Lukhanyo Am is our captain who has played well every week,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Anthony Volmink, Lukhanyo Am (C), Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench: *To be confirmed.

Marcell Coetzee will no doubt come out roaring at Kings Park on Saturday as he leads the Bulls officially for the first time in their decisive Rainbow Cup match against the Sharks, but coach Jake White says there is no feeling of anger at his shock omission from the Springbok squad to play the British and Irish Lions.

Coetzee took over as captain on the field when Duane Vermeulen suffered his serious ankle injury against the Stormers last weekend, despite being on debut for the Bulls, and he was praised by White for doing “an unbelievable job”.

“With Marco van Staden coming back at No.6, it was logical for Marcell to move to eighthman, it’s where he’s played at Ulster and it’s a like-for-like swop because he’s similar to Duane. It’s a long season and I’ve chatted to Rassie Erasmus about him. He’s been out for a while and the Springboks have ample cover, many loose forwards in camp like Marco, the Du Preez brothers, Wiese, Kwagga, Pieter-Steph and Siya.

“Marcell is a good player and I’m sure he’ll be in the mix going forward. The Springboks have a dozen Tests in a few months and Marcell is still positive because he knows all this and if he’s not with the Springboks now then he will be in the future,” White said on Thursday.

And while Vermeulen’s situation is hugely frustrating – he had to have surgery on his ankle and will be out of action for anything between five and 16 weeks – White said both he and the regular Bulls captain were optimistic.

“I don’t think all is lost with Duane. You look at Jesse Kriel getting over the same injury and, chatting to our medical staff, a lot of players get over this sort of injury and play seven weeks later. So Duane may not be 100% for the first Test against the Lions, but maybe he can play in the second and third Tests. Maybe in the last Test it will be 1-1, a must-win game and he scores the winning try.

“So he might still enjoy a moment like being man of the match in the World Cup final and he is positive. He’s mentally very tough and those are the guys who heal quicker than others, Schalk Burger was the same. I have full faith that he’s going to be okay,” White said.

The Bulls are one log point away (unless the Sharks manage to beat them by more than 34 points) from another sweet success in winning the South African leg of the Rainbow Cup, but injuries have landed White somewhat in the dark brown stuff when it comes to loose forwards with Elrigh Louw and Arno Botha also out injured.

It has led White to make the interesting selection of Ruan Nortje at blindside flank. He has only played in the second row for the Bulls to date, but the 22-year-old is way more than just a lock jumping in the lineouts though. He has the work-rate and mobility of a flank and has impressive skills with the oval ball as well. White is confident the move will bear fruit and allow Nortje to become a more versatile player like a Pieter-Steph du Toit.

Bulls: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Cornal Hendricks, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Marcell Coetzee (C), Ruan Nortje, Marco van Staden, Janko Swanepoel, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Jacques van Rooyen, Trevor Nyakane, Nizaam Carr, Muller Uys, Keagan Johannes, Clinton Swart, Gio Aplon.

“Our understanding is coming along nicely,” outside centre Marco Jansen van Vuren says of his midfield partnership with Cornal Hendricks, which has been one of the most unlikely success stories for the Bulls as they dominate local rugby.

It no doubt gives coach Jake White immense delight that he has moved a wing and a scrumhalf into midfield and made them a centre pairing that has proven to be one of the strengths of the Bulls on their way to winning the Currie Cup and now standing poised to reach the Rainbow Cup final.

The 24-year-old Jansen van Vuren had previously shuttled between the Lions, Valke and Bulls, battling to get decent game time as a scrumhalf. Coaches acknowledged that he was a talented footballer, but they just couldn’t find a regular slot for him. His Bulls appearances were initially on the wing, until White had the bright idea to shift him closer to the action when Springbok Sevens star Stedman Gans was injured.

Jansen van Vuren and Hendricks have certainly hit it off.

“Cornal has been really good at No.12 and as a centre pairing you have to understand each other. It was a challenge for me at first and then when Stedman was injured just before the Currie Cup semi-final I had to adapt as quickly as possible. The most important thing is understanding, knowing when and where to support each other. But it’s lekker to be next to Cornal, he’s a Springbok, one of the leaders.

“And he’s a good person – he even listens to me when I tell him he’s not doing the right thing! But it’s been quite a challenge for me to play in that channel, although now, playing a few games in a row for the first time, I feel like I’m finding my feet and getting that confidence there. I’m playing 80 minutes a game too so I’m settling in,” Jansen van Vuren said.

On Saturday in the decisive Rainbow Cup match against the Sharks in Durban, he will come up against Lukhanyo Am, one of the coolest cats wearing the No.13 jersey anywhere in the world.

“Lukhanyo is a great player, he won the World Cup, he’s one of the best in the world. It’s a lovely challenge, I’ve played against him a couple of times and he’s always up for it. But with the defensive system we have, we all trust each other and that makes it easier, especially when the wings and Cornal are doing very well.

“As a scrumhalf you are mostly just behind the defensive line and covering, you don’t spend much time in the frontline. But as an outside centre you have to make more decisions, is the ball going front door or back door? You need to make good decisions. But now I think it would be a big challenge for me to shift back to scrumhalf!” the 1.88m, 90kg Jansen van Vuren said.