Ken Borland

Bulls director of rugby Jake White once again bemoaned how bare his cupboard is when it comes to Springboks, but he seemed still fairly confident on Friday that his team will be able to “play some rugby” and see off the Ospreys in their United Rugby Championship clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Bulls will still field half-a-dozen Springboks in their starting XV and Morne Steyn on the bench, and White hinted that there will be no lack of ambition from his side on Saturday from 3pm.

“Ospreys drew with last season’s champions, the Stormers, which means they can play,” White said. “I know a couple of their main guys are not here, but Wales rugby is under pressure and their players could see this as an opportunity to put their hands up for national honours.

“They were tough to beat last year and I don’t foresee an easy game, but we would like to play through our centres and Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe can tick that box.

“They played three Super Rugby finals together, so imagine the hours they have spent practising and playing together, they’re probably the most experienced centre pairing in South Africa.

“And then Nizaam Carr is unbelievable on attack, he will add something running between and linking off the backline players. WJ Steenkamp as well,” White said.

With both the URC challenge and the European Rugby Champions Cup on his immediate radar, White said the Bulls had entered something of a new phase with a new generation of core players. He pointed out that when he arrived at Loftus Versfeld in 2020, his leadership group was Ivan van Zyl, Steyn, Gio Aplon, Duane Vermeulen and Arno Botha, all Springboks.

Now they have a new captain in lock Ruan Nortje, and fellow leaders in Johan Grobbelaar, Elrigh Louw, Chris Smith, Johan Goosen and Vorster.

“The whole dynamic has changed and I would like this group to have their own personality,” White said. “Ruan is quieter and doesn’t talk as much as Marcell Coetzee, but all my captains are totally and utterly driven to do well.

“But I am excited to see him stay the same Ruan Nortje, I would encourage him to bring his own personality and captaincy style.

“But South African rugby needs to find a new model post the next World Cup, we have to make sure our regions are strong, we keep our best players and keep our teams together.

“Why would we want to play in the Champions Cup if we don’t have a realistic chance of winning it? My salary cap of R70 million compared to the R180 million of Leinster or Munster, and even more for the French teams, is what I have to worry about,” White said.

Bulls:Wandisile Simelane, David Kriel, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw, WJ Steenkamp, Nizaam Carr, Ruan Nortje (c), Janko Swanepoel, Francois Klopper, Bismarck du Plessis, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Ruan Vermaak, Cyle Brink, Zak Burger, Morne Steyn, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Jake White has always leaned on plenty of planning in his selection strategies but the announcement of the Springbok and SA A squads to tour Europe on Friday hearsed some of his intentions for Sunday’s United Rugby Championship derby against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld.

The most obvious surprise in the national squads was the omission of Johan Goosen from the main Springbok squad, although he is in the SA A party. White certainly expected his ace flyhalf to be pushing for selection for the Test against Ireland on November 5. To be fair to the national selectors though, Goosen has taken longer than expected to hit top form after a serious knee injury, and his progress was also disrupted by an untimely concussion.

“Johan Goosen is back and will play at fullback. I really wanted him to play at flyhalf, but I thought he would be away with the Springboks this weekend and I told Chris Smith a long time ago that he maybe won’t play much for us at the start of the season, but when Goosen goes I will need him,” White revealed on Friday.

“But it’s worked out nicely with the way we want to play; the Sharks kick a lot, so they’ll be kicking to Johan and he has the same sort of skill set in some ways as Kurt-Lee Arendse. So it’s a bit of a like-for-like swop.

“We have an incredible couple of months ahead – flying and coming back and flying again, playing on Christmas Eve and Old Year’s Eve – so there’s a lot of juggling and planning.

“And there are still national team call-ups and the World Cup build-up to consider. And then you get two or three injuries and the whole thing changes,” White said.

The Sharks are shorn of all their frontline Springboks – with the Bulls actually having eight Test caps in their squad compared to the six of the visitors – but White made a point of stressing that they are still a top-class outfit.

“It doesn’t matter who the Sharks come with, they are still a marquee team worth R450 million,” White chirped. “It’s going to be a massive game, they’re bringing six forwards on the bench, which is a wonderful place to be for a Bulls coach, it’s like the old days.

“The Sharks are an unbelievable team, but the pressure is on them. They haven’t been favourites at Loftus for a long time, but now they apparently are.

“It’s always a big game against the Sharks because all the big names play for them. So I hope buses fuill of our supporters come and we can give them a good game.

“The only way we can make Loftus a fortress is if everyone comes. It’s a Sunday afternoon and I want to see all the pink for cancer jerseys, or the blue ones, but no black jerseys,” White said.

Bulls: Johan Goosen, David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Sbu Nkosi, Chris Smith, Zak Burger, WJ Steenkamp, Marco van Staden, Marcell Coetzee (C), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Francois Klopper, Bismarck du Plessis, Gerhard Steenekamp. Impact – Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Ruan Vermaak, Embrose Papier, Stravino Jacobs, Wandisile Simelane.

Springbok centre Francois Venter is a man who brings leadership and rugby intelligence to the field, and his inclusion in the Sharks starting XV for their United Rugby Championship derby against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday highlights the experienced midfield the franchise is building.

The 31-year-old former Free State Cheetahs star, who has played seven Tests, was part of the unfortunate Worcester Warriors team that went into liquidation, and the Sharks snapped him up to join the other strong group of centres they have. Lukhanyo Am, who should be back in action in early December, is a seasoned Springbok and world leader in midfield, 28-year-old Rohan Janse van Rensburg is in the prime of his career and Ben Tapuai is a 33-year-old Wallaby who has experience playing in both hemispheres.

“Francois brings a lot of experience, he has played at international level and in the UK,” Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell said on Friday. “He has a lot of rugby IQ.

“Our attack coach Noel McNamara has been very impressed with him over the last two weeks and how quickly he has understood what is expected in terms of our attacking principles and system.

“Francois has an amazing work ethic, he’s a good guy. He has caught up very quickly with what he needs to know and I’m looking forward to seeing how he goes.

“Hopefully Francois can bring some stability, and with Rohan coming back for the Cardiff game after the international window and Lukhanyo targeting the Ospreys game in early December, we have a few centres with good experience, plus Marnus Potgieter and Murray Koster in the squad,” Powell said.

Of course, having all these playing resources attracts both expectation and naysayers, and, shorn of their regular Springboks, there will be no sterner test of their form than travelling to Loftus Versfeld to take on the Bulls.

“There’s not just expectation from the franchise owners but from ourselves as management and players,” Powell said. “The key is the pressure we put on our ourselves to succeed.

“There’s an opportunity to do things differently now, and there will be a few changes. But the union is in a really good place, even though we’re just at the beginning of our journey.

“We know it is always a physical battle playing the Bulls at home, especially amongst the forwards. It’s going to take a good 80-minute game for us to win. We’ll be in trouble if we don’t stand up to them physically and play for 80 minutes.

“We need to put pressure on them in all areas and also match their kicking game. But there’s a good energy in our system,” Powell said.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Francois Venter, Ben Tapuai, Thaakir Abrahams, Boeta Chamberlain, Cameron Wright, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, Gerbrandt Grobler, Thomas du Toit (c), Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench: Dan Jooste, Dian Bleuler, Carlu Sadie, Justin Basson, James Venter, Sikhumbuzo Notshe,  Grant Williams, Marnus Potgieter.

Neil Powell was the public-facing spokesman for the Sharks for the first time on Thursday as he announced a starting line-up densely populated with Springboks for their United Rugby Championship clash with Ulster in Durban on Saturday.

Powell is the new director of rugby at Kings Park and took over team announcement duties from head coach Sean Everitt for the first time on Thursday. The former Springbok Sevens coach said that would now be the norm, and while he has the final say in selection, Everitt and the other coaches are extensively consulted.

And so the Sharks will run out on Saturday with eight Springboks, including the entire front row, two other forwards and three backs, to take on the powerful Ulster outfit. It is a mirror image of last weekend’s game against Glasgow Warriors, when there were five Springboks on the bench and they produced a spectacular finish to turn a one-point lead after 50 minutes into a 40-12 win.

“I talk a lot with Sean about selection, especially when it came to how to introduce the Springboks. They were on the bench last weekend, but now we’re bringing them into the starting line-up,” Powell said.

“It’s always great to have them and the URC is always a squad effort. We are fortunate to have the Boks for the last two weeks because they go back to the national set-up after this game.

“They’ll come back just before our game against Harlequins in the European Cup [December 10], so we had to make sure they integrated well now, because that competition will be a massive challenge.

“And it’s also given us the opportunity to rest some of the guys who have played the last four/five matches in a row. We have to make sure we manage the whole squad well,” Powell said.

While Powell said his focus is on upskilling and improving aspects of the URC team’s play, he is also concentrating on making the academy the sort of place to which rugby legends would be happy to send their son.

“My job is about building the brand and the team, and that can only happen if we have success on the field, so that’s my focus,” Powell said.

“But I’ll also look after the academy and make sure we get juniors coming through from the U20 competition to the Currie Cup and through to the URC.

“We don’t want to have to buy players from outside our system, so we need to change things up there. I’ll also be looking at the coaching structure at senior level.

“But it’s not a one-man show, it’s going to be a combined effort,” Powell said.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Marnus Potgieter, Ben Tapuai, Makazole Mapimpi, Boeta Chamberlain, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, Eben Etzebeth, Thomas du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Bench – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Carlu Sadie, Reniel Hugo, James Venter, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Anthony Volmink.