Ken Borland

The Bulls will not have their sensational young eighthman, Elrigh Louw, for their United Rugby Championship match against the feisty Dragons side at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, and it’s not as if the 22-year-old is resting either after a series of powerhouse displays.

Louw has tested positive for Covid but is not symptomatic. Nevertheless, the protocols still in place mean he has to miss the opportunity for some Dragons-slaying this weekend. What the Bulls lose in youthful vitality they gain in battle-hardened experience though as Arno Botha comes in at the back of the scrum, joining a formidable, seasoned loose trio alongside Marcell Coetzee and Cyle Brink.

“It’s out of our hands with Elrigh,” coach Jake White said on Friday, “but it does give Arno an opportunity in the back row. Elrigh is not symptomatic, but the rules state he has to spend seven days in isolation.

“He will then follow the return-to-play protocols after testing on Monday again. But I’ve learnt over the years from playing teams like the Chiefs in a Super Rugby semifinal with the Brumbies that you need to build a squad with international depth.

“That kind of experience is vital. We’re not there yet, but we do have Springboks on the bench like Morne Steyn and Cornal Hendricks, and we’ll get Bismarck du Plessis back too.

“You know those sort of players will add value and the other players get confidence from that as well. And the players have adapted well under pressure before to things like Elrigh not playing now,” White said.

While it is perfectly natural for the players to have more of a buzz, more of an edge, before matches against top teams like Munster, White said one of the focal points this week has been on ensuring the Bulls don’t compromise their recent excellent run with complacency on Saturday against a Dragons side that is second-bottom and has won just one of their 10 games.

“For big games the players automatically go up another level, for example when I coached the Springboks, before an All Blacks Test you could sense a different mode. It’s the same for everyone.

“But other teams probably take playing us at Loftus Versfeld very seriously and we need to make sure we don’t get caught short.

“The Dragons have had just one bad loss, they stay in the game and will be competitive. I expect them to have a full go at us, they play quite quickly too with tap-and-goes.

“They like to use their backs and they’re not afraid to give the ball some air. I expect them to challenge us, but we’re learning all the time that there are no easy wins, no game is a given,” White said.

Bulls team: Kurt-Lee Arendse,Canan Moodie,Lionel Mapoe,Harold Vorster,Madosh Tambwe,Chris Smith,Embrose Papier;Arno Botha,Cyle Brink,Marcell Coetzee (CAPT),Ruan Nortje,Walt Steenkamp,Jacques van Rooyen,Johan Grobbelaar,Gerhard Steenekamp. IMPACT – Joe van Zyl,Simphiwe Matanzima,Mornay Smith,Reinhardt Ludwig,WJ Steenkamp;Zak Burger,Morne Steyn,Cornal Hendricks.

Gio Aplon may be only 1.75 metres tall and weigh just 78kg but he is a feisty individual who is able to produce moments of magic on the rugby field, often enough to convince a famous ‘sizeist’ like Jake White to sign him for the Bulls.

While White was Springbok coach between 2004 and 2007 he made no secret of his belief that a good big ʼun was always better than a good little ʼun, but it seems Aplon first convinced the resolute coach of his merits while playing for Grenoble in France between 2014 and 2017, when White was coaching Montpellier.

When The Cistuses and White split ways not entirely amicably, the coach went to mentor Verblitz in Japan, and signed Aplon early on in his stint.

And now that White has been appointed director of rugby at the Bulls, he has once again brought Aplon with him. The Pretoria-based franchise announced on Wednesday that Aplon will join the team from June or as soon as he is able to travel back to South Africa, saying in their statement that he “epitomised the phrase ‘size doesn’t matter’ with his explosive speed and nimble feet allowing him to score tries from almost anywhere on the field, taking on the biggest and the best the game had to offer”.

Aplon has played 17 Tests for the Springboks, scoring five tries. But his last appearance for South Africa was back in late 2012, although he was part of Rassie Erasmus’s training group in 2018, without making a match-day squad.

The Bulls have developed something of a penchant for bringing veteran players to Loftus Versfeld, from Victor Matfield to Adriaan Strauss, Duane Vermeulen and Schalk Brits, and Aplon continues the trend as he is 37 years old.

Aplon spoke of his respect for the Bulls and what the brand has achieved in the statement, while he has previously spoken of how much he enjoys playing under White.

“The Springboks won the 2007 World Cup because he is such a fantastic coach. System-wise he is exceptional, he has implemented a good programme. He isn’t just there to fill up the post as head coach, he is there with the purpose of making Verblitz better and, as players, we feed off that. Jake is a serial winner and to be coached by him was one of the reasons I went to Japan,” Aplon told SA Rugby Mag.

Cheslin Kolbe, who is even smaller at 1.71 metres and 74kg, has made a massive impact with the Springboks and White will be hoping Aplon, although 11 years older, will prove of similar benefit to the Bulls while also serving as a mentor.

The way his plans for his crucial second year as Springbok coach are being undermined by injuries and overseas departures, Allister Coetzee could be forgiven for starting to take Valium as his appointment with the feisty French looms ever nearer.

Coetzee was spared the axe by SA Rugby after a 2016 campaign that had most Springbok fans in need of post-traumatic stress drugs, and he has also been given more support in terms of more experienced assistants and training camps during SuperRugby.

But there is little doubt that Coetzee needs to produce a series win from the three Tests against France in Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg in June if he is to still be Springbok coach for the Rugby Championship. There are ongoing shadowy moves involving Rassie Erasmus that will have Coetzee perpetually looking over his shoulder.

But the problems Coetzee already faces in terms of selecting his squad would be enough to send someone of less tenacious character running for the hills.

A run of injuries has sidelined his two most capped local flyhalves and his first three choices for inside centre. Another midfield star has decided to pursue his career overseas as has a potential scrumhalf candidate, a position in which Coetzee has real problems.

In fact, if you run through the list of names of local players currently available for the backline, it makes gloomy reading.

And thus we come to the thorny issue of overseas players. The new 30 caps criterion of SA Rugby only comes into effect from July 1, so there are obviously going to be a bunch of foreign-based players included for the French series.

If one had to pick a backline only from the ranks of the SuperRugby franchises, it would be sorely lacking in the experience which is so important at Test level.

On current form, the uncapped Ross Cronje should probably be the starting scrumhalf, but Faf de Klerk, although suffering from the vagaries of form at the moment, must surely feature somewhere, especially since he played in 11 of the Springboks’ 12 Tests last year.

Cobus Reinach is the scrumhalf heading overseas and will be ineligible after July 1 because he only has 10 caps.

At flyhalf, Coetzee is faced with a repeat of last year’s problem when he was without Pat Lambie and Handre Pollard. The Bulls man is a non-starter for the French series, leaving the coach to gamble between a rusty Lambie or a frustrating Elton Jantjies, a man who looks top-class in SuperRugby but has been as hesitant as a vegan in a butchery at Test level.

But hopefully there will be a change in approach from the Springboks this year, a move towards the up-tempo, ball-in-hand style of the Lions, and Jantjies will surely feel more comfortable in that sort of environment.

The Springboks have a history of throwing Lambie into battle when in need of a rescue act, but it would surely not be fair on the 26-year-old to toss him back into Test action after probably just three SuperRugby games.

Curwin Bosch has burst on to the scene for the Sharks, but it would be heaping too much pressure on to the 19-year-old’s shoulders to expect him to play flyhalf for the Springboks, especially when you have Jantjies to call on.

Bosch could well be selected at fullback for the Springboks, however, with Jesse Kriel and Warrick Gelant only producing glimpses of form for the Bulls.

Lwazi Mvovo is likely to be on the one wing for the Springboks and Courtnall Skosan certainly looks like someone who can be relied upon if called to make the step up. The local depth at wing is not great, with Ruan Combrinck out with a long-term injury and Seabelo Senatla and Sergeal Petersen battling to get on the field.

One does not like to dwell on the defensive frailties of players, but for all their brilliance with ball in hand, Jamba Ulengo, Travis Ismaiel, Dillyn Leyds and Cheslin Kolbe have all shown weaknesses in defence that Test opposition will definitely focus on.

Lionel Mapoe and Francois Venter have put their hands up for the outside centre berth, but Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Damian de Allende and Juan de Jongh, the last three players to wear the number 12 jersey for the Springboks, are all currently injured.

De Allende and De Jongh might return to action just before the June international window, but the confirmation last week that Jan Serfontein has given in to the agents flashing lots of numbers on their calculators and will head overseas is most untimely.

While Serfontein can still play against France, will Coetzee be willing to make an investment in a player who will be stranded on 29 Tests, if he plays all three internationals in June, and therefore won’t be eligible for selection for the Rugby Championship?

While I fully understand the reasons players leave to perform overseas, I have it on good authority that Serfontein is managed by an agency that only gets a commission if they land the player an overseas deal.

So obviously his agent was unlikely to recommend the improved contracts that were on the table from both the Bulls and SA Rugby. In fact, there was an unconfirmed report from France that Serfontein had already signed a three-year deal with Montpellier back in January.

Surely SA Rugby could have a case for negotiating in bad faith against the Essentially sports management company and cancel their agents’ licence? This same company hardly covered their names in glory with the way they handled the departures of SA cricketers Rilee Rossouw and Kyle Abbott on Kolpak deals earlier this year …

That leaves someone like the uncapped Burger Odendaal as the frontrunner for the inside centre position and as tempting as it may be to pick a backline purely from SuperRugby players, their total number of caps might then amount to less than 50.

Which means there is the likelihood that the likes of Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen, Ruan Pienaar and Morne and Francois Steyn will be winging their way back to South Africa in an effort to make up for their undistinguished recent efforts for the Springboks.

One cannot blame desperate coaches for trying anything to save their own skins, but bringing back all those former stars would surely be a retrograde step in terms of the future of Springbok rugby.

https://www.alloutrugby.com/euro-boks-retro-injuries/