The Bulls won’t abruptly withdraw from today’s United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld just because Edinburgh is stacked with Scottish internationals (2.30pm kickoff).
The Pretoria team had some unfinished business with their northern rivals after losing 17-10 at the DAM Heath Stadium the previous year.
Coach Mike Blair unveiled a strong team yesterday, including well-known Test players like flyhalf Blair Kinghorn, wing Darcy Graham, and fullback Henry Immelman, as well as former South Africans Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel at prop and strong No 8 Viliame Mata.
Hamish Watson, an openside flanker for the British and Irish Lions, was added to the bench after missing last week’s 44-6 victory against the Dragons. There are also a few more ex-South African players on the roster, including the forwards Boan Venter and Luan de Bruin and the flyhalf Jaco van der Walt.
However, the Bulls are able to combat fire with fire. Johan Goosen, who has been sidelined by a knee ailment for for a year, has now been given the green light by White, who also welcomes back gigantic No. 8 Elrigh Louw after his brief appearance for the Springboks last week in Argentina.
The majority of these players are Scottish internationals, and they defeated us last year. They have a terrific side, they play well together, and they defeated us last year. We are aware that we won’t undervalue them. They have four South African props in their 23 and are heading here, so they will be familiar with Loftus, according to White, who spoke yesterday from Loftus.
“I just want us to become better every game. We weren’t very good last week (the 31-15 victory against the Lions), but we managed to complete the task. We demonstrated how good teams just find a way to drag it out and win games, like when the score was 15 all.
“Edinburgh presents a unique challenge. They are a strong team that plays in a manner akin to the Lions and are well coached. They like moving the ball around, attempting to beat you, and using their outside backs.
“However, let’s not overlook the fact that it’s altitude and 2.30 in the afternoon. People may underplay it as much as they like, but the fact remains that Edinburgh has spent the whole week in Cape Town. The harder it is for both sides to win, the more the game depends on maintaining possession of the ball and frequent involvements.
I’d like to think that because we’ve practised on this field, competed at a high altitude, and played the most of our rugby in those circumstances, it will work better for us.
In preparation for the Bok coach Jacques Nienaber’s end-of-year trip to Europe, the 30-year-old Goosen starts his ascent back to the top.
However, the management of the national squad will have to wait to watch him play flyhalf. To be fair to Chris (Smith), everyone anticipates Goosen’s arrival before realising that Smith must sit on the bench.
Johan has played 12, 13, 10, so. Together, having both of those players on the field and allowing Johan to participate without having to take charge of everything right away allows him to kind of develop a feel for it as the game progresses.
“And he won’t survive 80 minutes since he recently returned after an 11-month hiatus. Morné (Steyn) is on the bench to cover it as well, which is why.
“At 10, he is also in the firing line since he runs everything from the first second. However, I do believe he will attempt to push himself into a 10 all the time since I do know him well enough.
The good thing is that he has choice over how much he wants to participate and at what level. And that’s fantastic because the more he practises playing first receiver when he’s on the field, the more at ease he will be doing it over the next few weeks.
The Loftus Versfeld Teams
Bulls: 15 Jeremy Goosen Cornal Hendricks, age 14. 13 David Kriel 12 Lionel Mapoe eleven Stravino Jacobs Chris Smith 10 Zak Burger, #9 Elrigh Louw 8, Ruan Nortje (captain), 6 Marcell Coetzee, and 7 Ruan Vermaak Walt Steenkamp, #4 Morney Smith 3 1 Gerhard Steenekamp 2 Johan Grobbelaar
Bench: 16 Wessels, Jan-Hendrik Simphiwe Matanzima, age 17 Francois Klopper, Janko Swanepoel, Marco van Staden, and Embrose Papier are all in the 18s. Stedman Gans 22 Morné Steyn 23.
Henry Immelman, 15 Edinburgh 13 Mark Bennett 14 Darcy Graham 11 Damien Hoyland 12 James Lang 10 Henry Pyrgos 9 Blair Kinghorn Luke Crosbie 7 Viliame Mata 8 Grant Gilchrist (co-captain) 6 Jamie Ritchie (co-captain) Sam Skinner four 3 WP Nel 1 Pierre Schoeman 2 Dave Cherry
Bench: 16 Boan Venter, Stuart McInally, and 17 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Hamish Watson, and 18 Luan de Bruin Jaco van der Walt 22; Ben Vellacott 23 Corey Dean