Ken Borland

With the focus firmly on the Currie Cup semifinal next weekend, Bulls coach Jake White has returned the first-choice halfback pairing of Morne Steyn and Ivan van Zyl to starting action against the Pumas on Sunday, but no-one else travelling to Nelspruit is guaranteed to be involved in the team to play the Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

Having beaten the Lions in midweek in Pretoria, the result against the Pumas cannot change the fact that the Bulls will finish top of the log. With three games in 10 days, White on Saturday announced 11 changes to the team that won the Gauteng derby.

Due to the Covid infection that swept through the squad, the in-form Steyn and Van Zyl have not started a match in a month, and White is obviously looking for them to provide the guidance needed to a very inexperienced backline against the hassling strategies of the Pumas, who always look to put the opposition off their game-plan.

White has also increased the pressure on them by choosing a new-look tight five in which lock Jan Uys is the only player to retain his place.

Uys impressed against the Lions and another strong performance against the Pumas could see him force himself into the reckoning for the semi-final, depending on the fitness of Walt Steenkamp and Sintu Manjezi.

Loose forward Arno Botha, who will captain the team in Nelspruit, could also bring his physical presence to the semi-final, while wing Stravino Jacobs certainly improved his chances of playing with his solid showing in midweek.

The Bulls will at least have a more experienced replacement front row on the bench, with hooker Johan Grobbelaar and props Lizo Gqoboka and Marcel van der Merwe trying to ensure they stay in the squad for the semi-final.

Bulls: Clinton Swart, Jade Stighling, Marnus Potgieter, Dawid Kellerman, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Tim Agaba, Arno Botha (capt), WJ Steenkamp, Janko Swanepoel, Jan Uys, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Johan Grobbelaar, Lizo Gqoboka, Marcel van der Merwe, Divan Venter, Elrigh Louw, Keagan Johannes, Kabelo Mokoena, Jay-Cee Nel.

A phlegmatic Jake White said the Bulls’ loss to the Sharks in Durban at the weekend was hardly a terrible blow to their Currie Cup chances and he still believes his side are sitting pretty in the competition.

The Bulls were pipped 32-29, with Morne Steyn missing a relatively straightforward penalty after the final hooter for the draw, but White is right, his team are still in a strong position. They are five points clear at the top of the log, with matches against Griquas, the Lions and Pumas to come.

The win did a lot for the Sharks, however, who are in second place, with a game in hand over the Bulls. But Western Province and the Lions have played as many matches as the Bulls and are seven and eight points behind respectively.

“This doesn’t change our plan at all, we’ll put the game behind us as a wasted chance, but the margins are so small. It’s a long season and we will learn from it, but I’m very happy where we are. Our destiny is still in our hands and who would have thought that six months ago? What’s important is that we get to January 23 and win the final that day.

“So I’m not worried, we are playing good rugby but we wasted chances today, that will happen with a young squad that has only been together for six months and half of that was in Lockdown. You can see the disappointment in the guy’s faces in the changeroom, you can see losing means a lot to them. Going into halftime 14-9 down it was obviously very pleasing to take the lead, but you’ve got to make sure you get the win at the end of the day,” White said after the Kings Park thriller.

White paid credit to the Sharks for their much-improved display at the breakdown, where they made life much harder for the Bulls compared to when they were hammered 41-14 at Loftus Versfeld in October in Super Rugby Unlocked.

“They slowed down our ball so we couldn’t get much momentum, they had obviously relooked at how they defend at the breakdown, so credit to them. We did not get as much quick ball as in the last game, the Sharks’ breakdown game obviously went up a notch which is why we struggled to get momentum.

“But we can only blame ourselves for losing four balls in our own 22 at the end, twice through not controlling the kickoff properly and we also lost two lineouts. The Sharks stood in our lineout and listened in on our calls, which was amazing to see, but [replacement hooker] Schalk Erasmus has been injured since the Green and Gold game [October 3], so it’s understandable it was difficult for him to find his locks,” White said.

Bulls coach Jake White certainly seems to have located his best starting XV and there is little doubt it is the side that will run out on to Kings Park on Saturday evening to play the Sharks in a Currie Cup thriller.

Barring Marnus Potgieter making his Currie Cup starting debut on the right wing that is. The 21-year-old is promoted from the bench because Travis Ismaiel is unable to fill the vacancy created by David Kriel moving back to fullback because he has just had a shoulder operation. Potgieter is 1.87 metres tall, weighs 94kg and played twice for the Blue Bulls in the 2018 SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

“Marnus has been a great junior player, he was at Affies and a member of the 4×100 metre relay team and has come through the ranks here at Loftus. He has lots of pace and he’s big and strong,” White said.

Apart from Ismaiel, all the familiar faces are back as White also moved Kurt-Lee Arendse back to left wing, Ivan van Zyl returns at scrumhalf, Ruan Nortje will start again in the second row and Trevor Nyakane and Jacques van Rooyen are the starting props.

Springbok Marcel van der Merwe, the tighthead who was replaced after 34 minutes against the Free State Cheetahs last weekend, is nowhere to be found on the bench though. White said he still has faith though in the 30-year-old even though 22-year-old Mornay Smith will be the replacement tighthead against the Sharks.

“We still back Marcel and we will help him through it, he had a long-term injury and has not played much rugby. I’m not going to discard him, we will help him back on the horse. Maybe the Free State loosehead prop was able to get away with a bit, there’s been lots of debate about that,” White said.

The former Springbok coach did however praise the influence of Nyakane both on and off the field.

“Marcel will come right and Trevor almost did the same things as Marcel and we got rewarded, so I’m just thankful that referee Jaco Peyper is good enough and experienced enough to see the whole picture. There’s a misconception that we took off our tighthead because he was struggling, but it was because we wanted the loosehead to try and do the same things to Trevor.

“It’s not as if Trevor came on and waved a wand, but he showed stability and the players around him obviously get confidence from that. I haven’t worked with Trevor before but he’s been really good both on and off the field – right now he’s having one-on-ones with young Jan-Hendrik Wessels on loosehead versus tighthead,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Marnus Potgieter, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (capt), Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

According to coach Jake White, the Bulls team expected a “bollocking” from him at halftime in their Currie Cup match against the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, but a return to the basics saw them romp to a 40-13 victory in the second half.

The Bulls started the match well, racing into a 13-3 lead in the first quarter, but they then allowed the Cheetahs to dictate affairs and the visitors had pulled level at 13-13 at the break.

“Just before the game I think I gave them a bit of a scare when I told them a thunderstorm could stop the match so we needed to be in front at halftime. We were up 13-3 but then we started defending and waiting for halftime. I think the guys were a bit scared of the weather, they were a bit naïve and psychologically it’s part of the learning process.

“I think they expected a bollocking at halftime but I just said that we had had no ball but when we did have possession we created pressure in their half. I just told them to go back to what they had practised, to believe in it. And in the second half everything worked, we definitely got it right. It was very pleasing, very good rugby and the bench impact was very good too,” White said after the win.

White said his team continues to learn how to come out on top in different match situations.

“Last week we had to show massive character to win with 14 men against Western Province and this week we had to work really hard in the second half and go hard to the end to get the bonus point. Overcoming these sort of challenges are all building blocks, it goes in the memory bank and it’s another box ticked. There’s that understanding how to get it done and the direction.

“Trevor Nyakane is a World Cup winner, he comes on and all of a sudden we get a scrum penalty and that changes the whole game because the scrums are very important. Duane Vermeulen played well and spoke well to the team, he brings massive composure. Nizaam Carr also brought composure and Morne Steyn was good too, it’s very good to have him back in the system,” White said.