Ken Borland

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.

Temba Bavuma is the right man to lead the Proteas because he took the Imperial Lions from being kittens to the roaring, dominant beasts they are now, according to his vice-captain at the franchise, Nicky van den Bergh.

History will be made at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday morning when Bavuma becomes the first Black African to captain the South African cricket team, and for wicketkeeper/batsman Van den Bergh he was the obvious choice as skipper.

“There was obviously a lot of speculation over who the best captain would be, but the Proteas white-ball teams need to win trophies and Temba has managed to do that, really stepping up for the Lions in two or three finals. He has been the most successful franchise captain over the last three years, he has a proven record that no-one can dispute. It’s about time that the Proteas have taken that punt and I think he will do well.

“Sure, he inherited a strong squad at the Lions but we hadn’t won anything. Under him we won five out of eight possible trophies which you can’t argue with. The best captains get a team effort going, there’s no secret, no aces up his sleeve, he just gets the best out of the big players and ensures they step up in the big games. Temba is very confident, he has that presence, that aura, that means he can get the best out of his players,” Van den Bergh told The Citizen on Thursday.

Both Van den Bergh and former Lions coach Geoff Toyana, who first gave the captaincy to Bavuma, spoke on Thursday of his people skills and ability to get the best out of players.

“Temba is a pretty intense character and he leads like that as well. But I feel he got the best out of me and the other players, and now he’s obviously got an even greater calibre of players and more backing. He expects the best out of you as a player and he’s never satisfied with just doing well, he expects you to do better and better. But he lets the guys play, you can see that by how attacking we are.

“That’s the kind of thing that makes the top players stand up and he does it as well, Temba’s not one to back down under pressure. He created a winning culture very quickly at the Lions and the gus now expect to win, we don’t buckle. So for me it was a move the Proteas had to make because of the success he has had at franchise level,” Van den Bergh said.

“Temba is a great leader and a people’s person who leads from the front. He gives his team confidence and backs the players, that’s the main thing that makes sure they do well,” Toyana said.

Former Proteas pace bowler Andre Nel is the new coach of the Easterns team and says you’re not nearly as likely to hear him roaring from off the field as you were likely to hear him on the field during his playing days.

“It’s hard not being as fiery, but my job is to understand and manage the players, look after them well and get the best out of them. I’m pretty laid back, but discipline, respect and never giving up are things I won’t compromise on. I want them to be fiery,” Nel says.

The 37-year-old, who played 36 Tests and 79 ODIs for South Africa, has been coaching at school and academy level and sees the Easterns appointment as his breakthrough first job at senior level.

“When you’ve played with that much passion, it’s hard to just take yourself out of competition. For me it was more about passion than aggression and so once I stopped playing I started coaching at schools and the academy. My biggest advantage is that I know and understand how the players think and what their needs are. And they respect me too because they know I’ve done it myself, I know how cricket works,” Nel says.

Nel said his long-time mentor, Ray Jennings, would be helping him at Easterns, especially in terms of setting up structures and improving the discipline.

“The big thing at Easterns is that there’s no special schools identified, we need to pick three or four feeders and try and develop those. Plus we need tertiary institutions to keep players in the system and create an academy that works.

“It will take time, but it’s a lot more than just coaching, we’ve got to get the structures right. We’ve also already spoken about club facilities, which are poor and don’t give players the best opportunity to show what they can do. And we need to make Willowmoore Park somewhere where we can proud of too. Others hate coming there, but we must be proud of our office,” Nel says.

And, in terms of on-the-field action and his own area of expertise – bowling, Nel says for him the yorker is a much under-utilised skill.

“Batting skill has moved so far forward with guys playing reverse-sweeps and laps, but bowling skill seems to be standing still. The slower-ball bouncer and slower yorker are both old news and we need to try and figure out what we can do to bring a different dimension to bowling.

“We need to be able to nail the yorker, but nobody in South Africa seems able to bowl it on demand. We’re a bit predictable; yes, the yorker is hard to bowl, but it’s a dying art.

“The laws are all conducive to batting, so maybe in the powerplay the bowlers should be able to choose whether they want to bowl with a new or an old ball … ” Nel says.

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