Ken Borland

The Bulls will fly to Italy on Monday night for the Rainbow Cup final with a powerful squad missing just three Springboks as they look to transfer their dominance of South African rugby to the European stage.

The Bulls will be taking on Benetton Treviso, the surprise winners of the European leg of the competition, and it looks like coach Jake White is only going to have to make two changes to the starting line-up that led them to an impressive win over the Sharks last weekend and a place in the final.

To think that only Morne Steyn, Marco van Staden and Trevor Nyakane are in the Springboks’ plans for the series against the British and Irish Lions is quite astonishing when one considers that the Bulls have won every trophy on offer in South Africa in the last year.

And White is in the fortunate position of being able to replace Van Staden and Nyakane with fellow Springboks in Nizaam Carr and Lizo Gqoboka.

Carr has mostly played eighthman for the Bulls when Duane Vermeulen has been resting, but Marcell Coetzee has shifted seamlessly into the injured talisman’s position at the back of the scrum, and Carr is certainly not going to feel out of place at openside flank, having played there many times before for the Stormers and the Springboks.

Gqoboka is fit to play after a foot injury that was blamed for keeping him out of the Springbok squad, with Jacques van Rooyen able to cover tighthead prop in the absence of Nyakane.

Steyn is likely to be replaced by Chris Smith, who has shown on numerous occasions already that he is going to be a very handy performer for the Bulls going forward.

Exciting lock prospect Ruan Nortje did very well in Durban in his first outing as the Bulls’ blindside flank, and if the conditions in Treviso suit running rugby then he could well continue in that position, with Janko Swanepoel and Walt Steenkamp once again teaming up in the second row.

The unrelated Muller and Jan Uys could both be on the bench, with the exciting young Zak Burger suiting up as the replacement scrumhalf.

Bulls squad

Forwards: Lizo Gqoboka, Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Schalk Erasmus, Sydney Tobias, Jacques Van Rooyen, Mornay Smith, Robert Hunt, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Jan Uys, Walt Steenkamp, WJ Steenkamp, Muller Uys, Marcell Coetzee, Nizaam Carr.

Backs: Ivan Van Zyl, Zak Burger, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Clinton Swart, Cornal Hendricks, Marco Janse van Vuren, Stravino Jacobs, Madosh Tambwe, Dawid Kellerman, Gio Aplon, David Kriel.

Forwards coach Deon Davids said on Monday that the fact that there are so many versatile players in the Springbok squad will have a positive effect on selection for the British and Irish Lions series.

While both Jean-Luc du Preez and Rynhardt Elstadt were designated as utility forwards in the official team announcement, the likes of Jasper Wiese, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Dan du Preez, Franco Mostert and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg can also play in a couple of positions. Four of the seven props also have some experience of playing on the ‘other side’.

“It’s good to have players with versatility and guys like the Du Preez twins and Pieter-Steph are also good lineout forwards. Rynhardt Elstadt can assist at No.4 as well. The Du Preez twins especially have a lot of versatility and can feature in the lineout as both locks and loose forwards. It’s been good to see them take their games to another level with Sale.

“They are quality rugby players, very physical, good lineout forwards and ball-carriers. They can both give and stop momentum. In Europe they have been playing against quality internationals week in and week out. They get involved in battles, they have high work-rate and it’s fantastic to see them step up. We are looking forward to having them here,” Davids said from Bloemfontein.

While some critics have suggested captain Kolisi is not playing well enough at the moment to be a first-choice loose forward, notwithstanding that the omission of the inspirational skipper would really set the cat amongst the pigeons, Davids said the Springbok management have been monitoring the Sharks star that will turn 30 on Youth Day (Wednesday) since his return from injury and they are happy with his progress.

“We have been in communication with Siya and the rest of the players for a while about the fundamentals and technical aspects of their performance. Siya is definitely coming back, there has clearly been an improvement with the way he plays with the ball and especially off the ball. It was fantastic to have him at training today with his experience and just the way he is continually going. He is a core part of the whole pack.

“The camp started with a lot of energy and excitement last week and it’s been a while since we’ve been together for on-field sessions. We now the opportunity to implement the stuff we have spoken about a lot in the alignment camps. Last week went very well and today there was a big focus on our exit plays, then we will do attacking plays and Thursday will be a lot of defence,” Davids said.

The maudlin cries complaining that all our best talent goes overseas is something we are quite used to hearing in cricket and rugby and the issue has come to the fore again with Devon Conway’s spectacular debut for New Zealand’s impressive Black Caps cricket team and Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus announcing a squad of which nearly 50% were based overseas.

Top sportspeople taking their skills elsewhere is one of the biggest challenges facing our administrators, but it is also a problem that the country faces as a whole in a wide range of fields. On the sporting side, there is not much cash-strapped Cricket South Africa nor SA Rugby can do about the major socio-economic issues that are driving emigration.

Erasmus has bemoaned the financial realities that mean it is just about impossible for SA Rugby to stop their leading players from taking lucrative contracts overseas; the Rand simply cannot compete. And appealing to professional sportspeople to consider the good of the game back home is a bit like pleading with a kid to eat their broccoli because it’s good for them.

But by choosing a Springbok squad to play the British and Irish Lions in which 22 of the 46 members are based overseas, Erasmus is in a way encouraging what he was complaining about. Local players see that squad packed with emigrants and must be thinking that heading off to Europe or Japan will be a fruitful endeavour.

And not just in terms of their wallets. This latest Springbok squad selection has almost sent a message that you are more likely to be picked if you are based overseas.

There are so many talents blossoming in South African domestic rugby at the moment – the likes of Ruan Nortje, Lizo Gqoboka, JD Schickerling and even the reinvented Cornal Hendricks – but it seems every time there was a 50/50 call, the selection went the way of the guy based overseas.

Erasmus has expressed his disappointment that there are so many of our players offshore, but favouring the exiles when it comes to selection is not going to help restrict the numbers departing.

The tacit statement behind the selection is that the standard of overseas rugby – even in Japan – is better than that of the South African domestic game, which is not a great admission for the director of rugby to make.

A 50% overseas Springbok team is also harder for the general South African public, the vast majority of whom do not have satellite TV, to relate to and support. How many rugby fans have actually seen Coenie Oosthuizen play lately? But most rugby fans will know that Gqoboka has been in rampaging form for the Bulls.

Ever since Apartheid was introduced to rip apart the fabric of our society, we have lost cricketers to overseas teams. The original outflux was to England, but lately there has been a surge of South African products playing for New Zealand.

Amazing as it might be for a country of five million people and more than 26 million sheep, New Zealand is not just the best producer of woollen products in the world, but they stand on the verge of being the best Test cricket team on the planet as well. That after falling just one run (or one boundary or one correct umpiring decision) short of winning the ODI World Cup.

So New Zealand certainly have a strong national cricket team at the moment. Which is ironic because there have been a pile of South African imports who couldn’t crack it here but have made it big on that island.

Left-arm quick Neil Wagner is the current enforcer of the bowling attack, BJ Watling is arguably the best Test wicketkeeper/batsman in the world (joining Kruger van Wyk and Glen Phillips as Saffers who have donned the gloves for the Black Caps), Colin Munro is a flashy white-ball player and no-one should need reminding of what Grant Elliott did to the Proteas in the 2015 World Cup semi-final.

Conway has now joined that list and his is an interesting tale. Having been a schoolboy prodigy, the Johannesburger went through hell just trying to establish himself as a franchise cricketer. In 21 four-day franchise games he could only average 21 and his white-ball averages are almost identical.

And then in 2017 he decided to make a fresh start halfway across the world and pow! Conway is now one of the most exciting newcomers to international cricket and his 200 against England on Test debut at Lord’s must be one of the finest performances in a first Test ever.

But blaming CSA for letting this late-blooming talent slip through their fingers is one of my pet hates. Sure, transformation priorities do lead to certain people being favoured when it comes to selection, but Conway was given every opportunity here but for some reason just could not perform well enough to become a household name.

He deserves nothing but praise though for how he has rejuvenated his career.

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.