Ken Borland

Bulls coach Jake White was not expecting elusive wing Rosko Specman to be playing for the Stormers against his team in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night, but he does know those thickset brutes in the visiting pack are going to be trying to wrestle his side into submission.

Specman, on loan from the Free State Cheetahs, was rushed straight into the Stormers starting line-up on Thursday, with Sergeal Petersen being relegated to the bench. Specman was one of the players released from the Bulls by White last year and there have been suggestions of some bad blood between the two.

But when White was asked on Thursday about Specman coming back to Loftus Versfeld to play against his former team, White said he was delighted for the Springbok Sevens star. Before adding a trademark bit of psychological warfare against the Stormers.

“It’s fantastic for Rosko, although I don’t know if he’ll play. I’ll be very pleased for him if he does and he’s also been in the Springbok alignment camps. But there are probably five other wings who have been in Cape Town the whole year, so it’s difficult for them to just parachute Rosko in ahead of everyone else, especially a guy like Edwill van der Merwe, who scored the winning try in their last match.

“So I don’t expect anything different from the Stormers, they have a formula that works for them and the last time they were here, they had six forwards on the bench. That’s working for them and they use their scrum and maul to attack you a lot. It’s going to be a massive, must-win game for us. Fortunately we have three Springboks [Marcell Coetzee, Ivan van Zyl & Gio Aplon] back for a huge game against the team that has the most Springboks in their pack,” White said.

While Coetzee playing with Springbok legend Duane Vermeulen and up-and-coming star Elrigh Louw, and Marco van Staden on the bench, in a loose trio White described as probably being the best in global club rugby is going to engender much excitement, the return of utility back Gio Aplon, to cross swords with his old team, and scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl is most welcome.

With less than a month to run on Van Zyl’s contract before he joins Saracens, many coaches would have ploughed on with Zak Burger and Keegan Johannes at halfback now that Embrose Papier is injured. But not White.

“It sums up everything about our culture. If Ivan had wanted to hide or protect himself before going to Saracens, I would have been disappointed. But it says a lot for him that he wants to be part of the team, he wants to finish here on a high and complete his contract properly. That’s a sign that things are where they should be.

“The reality is I do have other scrumhalves, but I’ve gone for the best one to get the job done in this match, and Embrose is injured and I don’t think he’ll be able to play for a couple of weeks. Ivan is one of the guys showing he has wonderful character, and that’s why we have been successful,” White said.

Zak Burger is the latest in a number of Paarl Gimnasium products that have landed up at Loftus Versfeld, including Handre Pollard, Johan Grobbelaar, Stravino Jacobs and Muller Uys, but the 22-year-old scrumhalf is a bit different in that he has taken a more scenic route into the Bulls team.

Born and bred in the Cape, Burger missed out on SA Schools selection but took up a junior contract with the Sharks. It was a foot in the door at a major union, and he was chosen for the SA U20 squad for the 2018 Junior World Cup, but Burger then gambled by joining Griquas in a move that has turned out to be every bit as audacious as some of his trademark breaks from the back of the ruck or scrum.

“It was a bit of a gamble, but after the Junior World Cup I got the opportunity to play Currie Cup rugby at the age of 19 in Kimberley. So I sat with my Dad and we decided that it was a big privilege to get senior experience at my age, rather than waiting to come through the ranks at the Sharks, through the U21s into senior level.

“It worked out very well. I learnt so much in Kimberley and I ended up as captain, so now I have leadership experience from a young age. Scrumhalf is a crucial position in terms of leadership and it was a big privilege to captain Griquas. I definitely grew and became a better player there,” Burger explained on Wednesday.

In a struggling side, Burger’s vision, reading of the game and all-round ability caught the eye of Bulls coach Jake White, who snapped him up after the Currie Cup. With Ivan van Zyl’s tour of duty at Loftus soon coming to an end, Burger is going to be playing a more and more influential role alongside Embrose Papier, if he does not return to the Springbok squad.

And Burger says he is particularly looking forward to running on to the field on Friday night against the Stormers, the team he supported as a kid.

“I grew up in the Cape and went to school there, so naturally I supported Western Province. My Mom and Dad were big Stormers supporters since I was small. So I know it’s the big North/South derby and every match between the sides is very physical, I can remember Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha going up against each other.

“I’m looking forward to Friday night, it will be lekker to play the Stormers at Loftus. I definitely don’t have a point to prove though, it’s not a grudge meeting, just another game. At the moment I’m playing for the Bulls so I want to do my best for them in every game. Losing to the Lions was a big disappointment for us, but it was a good wake-up call,” Burger said.

When Willie le Roux hared off to Wasps in 2017 he knew that he was putting his Springbok career at risk such were the stricter rules surrounding the use of overseas players at the time. But he was still in the Green and Gold two years later and his experience at fullback was important in winning the 2019 World Cup.

And now, with almost another two years having passed, Le Roux is still the first-choice fullback at an evergreen 31-years-old. This is both a blessing and a concern because should the Toyota Verblitz star get injured, it is probably the position in the squad for the series against the British and Irish Lions where coach Jacques Nienaber has the least back-up, especially with Warrick Gelant unlikely to recover in time from his ACL surgery.

Damian Willemse was a late call-up to the World Cup squad as a replacement for Jesse Kriel and has only accumulated six caps. His recent form for the Stormers has been promising rather than spectacular and there are many who believe Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi should now be considered the back-up to Le Roux.

Fassi himself is uncapped though and the development of his undoubted talent was put back a bit by the serious shoulder injury he suffered last year.

So fullback looks a little thin for Nienaber’s liking, and he could be looking at utility players like Francois Steyn, Johan Goosen or Raymond Rhule to provide cover there or maybe even Kriel, Handre Pollard or Sbu Nkosi in an emergency.

In terms of the all-important tight five, while there is pleasing depth in the front row and lots of in-form Black stars like Bongi Mbonambi, Lizo Gqoboka, Ox Nche, Scarra Ntubeni, Joseph Dweba and Trevor Nyakane to choose from, injuries have marred Nienaber’s options at lock.

World Cup winners RG Snyman and Lood de Jager are both racing against time to be fit and are unlikely to make the 45-man squad that will be announced on Saturday.

While the Springboks’ starting pair of Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert are absolutely world-class, there is a lack of experience thereafter.

Marvin Orie has been capped only three times and Jason Jenkins has played just a solitary Test. The other two main contenders for a place – Ruan Nortje and JD Schickerling – would both be making their international debuts.

Toulouse hardman Rynhardt Elstadt has helped his French club to European glory and top of the log domestically, and can cover lock as well, but has played just two Tests. The Springbok management will be loathe to move Pieter-Steph du Toit to the second row given what a tremendous impact he has had playing on the flank.

Playing cricket is extremely dear to pace bowler Lizaad Williams but the 27-year-old admitted on Thursday that he was probably only going to play for another couple of years when he began last season by moving from the Cape Cobras to the Titans.

And now, with the Titans Player of the Year and three other major awards to his name, he is preparing for his first tour with the Proteas as they head off to the West Indies next week. The way Williams has gone from journeyman professional to international cricketer was one of the best stories of the troubled 2020/21 summer.

“I didn’t expect anything when I moved to the Titans, I just wanted the opportunity to play more and I knew a new environment would push me to be better. I’m very thankful to the game and I appreciate it, I’m grateful just to play any game of cricket, even club cricket. But when I came to Centurion, I was in the mental space that I would probably play for just two more years.

“But I did not lose my passion and I wanted to see if I could fulfil my potential, so I gave it my all and things happened way quicker than I imagined, which just shows God is in control and he knows when the right time is. Playing for the Proteas fulfils my lifelong dream, although it was emotional because I wanted my mother to be there on my debut but she passed away in 2019,” Williams told The Citizen on Thursday.

Having left his younger brother in Vredenburg he has quickly become an integral part of a band of brothers at the Titans, winning the Players’ Player of the Year award on Wednesday night as well. And now his travels will take him far across the seas to the Caribbean, where he will be a member of both the Test and T20 squads.

“I know the pitches over there are usually slow and low, but coming from the coast, growing up around Paarl, I’m used to similar conditions. I know on the Highveld you get more reward for fast bowling with nicks to the slips, but it’s almost easier for me on the coast. Your dismissals there are more lbws, caught in the covers or midwicket, it’s hard graft.

“But the beauty of the game is you never know what you’re going to get and South Africa probably has the most differing conditions between all the venues you’ll find anywhere in the world. If you’re playing for the Proteas, if you want to compete with the best, then you have to be able to adapt to any conditions. I train with that mindset – using the new ball, an old ball, a ball that reverses. You can’t just rely on bounce always,” Williams said.