Ken Borland

Marco van Staden may be on his way to Leicester Tigers in July and is apparently not currently on the Springboks’ radar, but Bulls coach Jake White on Friday backed the loose forward’s credentials for the series against the British and Irish Lions.

And he is expecting the 25-year-old to push his case even more on Saturday as an all-Springbok Bulls loose trio takes on the in-form Sharks back row that includes Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi.

White on Friday restored the experienced Arno Botha, the scorer of two tries in the Currie Cup final against the Sharks, to his starting line-up and Van Staden, Botha and Duane Vermeulen versus Kolisi, Henco Venter and Sikhumbuzo Notshe will be a fascinating match-up.

“I’m not in the inner sanctum of the Springboks so I don’t know what they think and I know from being there before that they will have their own plan and players in mind for that. But it would seem highly unlikely that Marco is in their plans because he hasn’t been in the alignment camps. But he’s certainly not negative and he has been great for us.

“Marco is playing really good rugby and even though he’s leaving in July, we’re trying to get as much out of him as we can. He said he didn’t want to leave early, he wanted to finish his contract properly and so all three of our back row on Saturday are Springboks and it’s a great chance against Kolisi and Notshe for them to put their hands up,” White said on Friday.

Van Staden was particularly impressive last weekend against the Stormers, making 22 tackles and being his usual nuisance at the breakdowns.

The selection of Botha means Elrigh Louw, one of the brightest young playing talents at Loftus Versfeld, will be playing off the bench against the Sharks, alongside the likes of Springboks Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane. The Bulls will undoubtedly be wanting to take the intensity up a notch in the final quarter.

While White is a big fan of the attributes of the 21-year-old Louw, and is merely giving him “a breather” after putting in two back-to-back 80-minute shifts, the coach also revealed that another player he has the highest hopes for, the 20-year-old front-ranker Jan-Hendrik Wessels, will be hooker this weekend for the Pretoria Rugby Club side, in a change of position for the former Grey College star who has played both loosehead and tighthead prop for the Bulls senior side.

“He’s a good rugby player who can do it all, he played lock for Grey in Standard 9 and then moved to prop in matric. He’s like John Smit, who I always knew would make it, but you want it to happen quicker because he could play 100 Tests. My patience is not running out with him, but he needs to be part of our team in the next six months and I’m trying to find a spot for him,” White said.

Loftus Versfeld has been a busy check-in, check out counter this week as Springbok flank Marcell Coetzee arrived for duty with the Bulls, on the same day that the departure of loose forward Tim Agaba, the former Springbok Sevens representative, was confirmed.

Coetzee has been a phenomenal performer for Ulster, when fit, over the last five years and was recently named the Pro14 Players’ Player of the Season. The 29-year-old is currently recovering from a hamstring injury but will certainly have his eye on a return to the Springbok loose trio for the series against the British and Irish Lions.

The fact that the owner of 30 Springbok caps is considered one of the star signings amongst a host of big names being lured to Loftus Versfeld was shown by the brand new Bulls bakkie that was waiting for Coetzee upon his arrival at his new home.

The 31-year-old Agaba will be playing in the black-and-yellow of the French Second Division side U.S. Carcassonne. He will join the South African contingent of locks – Claude Dry, Rynard ‘Ligtoring’ Landman and Christiaan van der Merwe – at the 122-year-old club that is languishing in the lower reaches of the Pro D2 division in France.

Nizaam Carr is a Springbok loose forward who hasn’t had much game time since joining the Bulls, but he said on Tuesday that working with coach Jake White has been one of the best relationships of his career and the desire at Loftus Versfeld is strong to avoid what the player called “the same fate as Liverpool”.

With the talismanic Duane Vermeulen currently unavailable after minor knee surgery, Carr could well get his chance to shine in the preparation series that starts this weekend, with the Bulls taking on Eastern Province in Pretoria on Sunday. The former Stormers and Wasps star said the message from White has been clear: Even though several of the stars who won both SuperRugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup might not be playing, the Bulls are looking to improve their game still further.

“The message from Jake was that we have to take it to the next level, whether that’s in our diet, our training, our gym or whatever. What happened to Liverpool, what my friends have been telling me about them because I’m not a big football fan … we don’t want to suffer the same fate. So we need to do something different to stay on top, we need to take our game up a notch.

“This series is the perfect opportunity for us to prepare and you can see everyone want this opportunity. I always back myself to start but I will do whatever I can to help the team, like I had to do for the Currie Cup final. But I have a good understanding with Jake and the other coaches, in fact my relationship with Jake is one of the best I’ve experienced with a coach. It’s been fantastic to continue my journey with these fantastic people,” Carr said on Tuesday.

Carr is probably competing with former Springbok Sevens star Tim Agaba for the eighthman berth vacated by Vermeulen. While Agaba will bring work-rate and physicality to the role, Carr said he sees his strength as being the more classical ability to link with the backs.

“I want to play eighthman, I feel I am best there, but it is nice that I can cover a lot of options and different coaches want different things from their eighthman. My strength is linking, mixing it up with the forwards and backs, doing the dirty work if necessary and bringing a high tackle count. I’m also a lineout option although I’m not the biggest guy.

“I’m not one of those 120kg or 1.95 metres guys, but I bring something else to the party. I have not played as much as I would have liked here, so it feels like my first game again, something I am really looking forward to. It’s a big opportunity, that’s the motivator for all of us, we want to showcase what we’ve got, show that we can turn up at this level, given the opportunity,” Carr said.

SIYA Kolisi might enjoy a big profile off the field, but Sharks CEO Eduard Coetzee insisted on Wednesday that they have signed the Springbok captain on a three-year deal because of what a big asset the World Cup winning loose forward will be on the field.

The uncharitable have suggested Kolisi’s move from Western Province to Durban has more to do with building publicity for the massive equity stake invested in the Sharks by MVM Holdings, of which Roc Nation, Kolisi’s publicists, have a stake. But Coetzee said it was Kolisi the player they were interested in.

“It’s an unbelievable day for Sharks rugby, we started building something special here two years ago and today, announcing Siya is joining us, is an important step in the right direction. Negotiations did not take that long because when a player of his standing comes on the market you’ve got to move quickly. Siya ticks all the boxes – he is an amazing human being, the best captain in world rugby and an unbelievable player.

“We didn’t sign him here because of Roc Nation, although from a business strategy point of view it does make sense. They are his commercial agents, they’re not dealing with hm as a rugby player. Siya would still be sitting here today even if he was not with Roc Nation. We were waiting patiently for him to come on the market and when he did not accept the Western Province offer, it took just a matter of weeks for us to agree terms,” Coetzee said at Kings Park on Wednesday.

Kolisi, who is undeniably a hugely inspirational figure in South African society, said his focus in Durban will be very much on fighting his way back into top form, into the Sharks team and then ensuring that he keeps his place in the Springbok side.

“It feels like my first day in school, I’m starting fresh and I know I have to fight again, I have the same feeling as when I was a young man in Cape Town knowing I had to perform. I really hope to play my part on the field, and off the field as well. But there are amazing loose forwards here and what has happened before doesn’t matter. But I want to fight for my position and my main focus is rugby, to get fit and ready to play,” Kolisi said.

“My work off the field is very important to me. But it’s rugby that opens the doors so I know I have to do well on the field for that to happen. Last year was really tough for me with all the injuries and Covid affecting my family, and the stats show that, but I am the biggest critic of myself. Rassie Erasmus said I must just make sure the main thing stays the main thing and I’m going to make sure I work as hard as I can here.”

The 29-year-old Kolisi said he knows many of the current Sharks players and they and former Natal stars had been in contact with him, welcoming him into the camp.

“I know a lot of the guys, they seem excited to have me here and with the culture and the vibe they have going, I just knew it would be the best place. And I’ve had a lot of past players phone me like John Smit, The Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] and JP Pietersen, everyone has been very welcoming. Change is good for everyone.

“I don’t wake up in the morning thinking I want to be Springbok captain, I wake up thinking I want to be a Springbok and be in that team, it’s why I do what I do, why I love the game. So I have to make sure I’m performing; after injuries and the impact of Covid, as a player I am starting fresh again. I’ve got that feeling back that I want to impress my team-mates and get their respect,” Kolisi said.