There could not have been a more contrasting mood between rival coaches John Plumtree and Jake White ahead of today’s United Rugby Championship match in Durban (6pm kick-off), especially when it comes to the loose-forward battle.
The Sharks are without injured Vincent Tshituka and James Venter, and are fielding an unusual combination that has Phepsi Buthelezi being trialled at openside flank, Siya Kolisi at No 8, and Emmanuel Tshituka at No 7.
While Plumtree’s take on the breakdown battle was mostly about containment and all players having to pitch in to help win turnover ball, White was comparing his loose trio to great Bok combinations of the past.
You can’t blame Plumtree because he has a crippling injury list at forward, while you can understand White’s excitement given the in-form players at his disposal, including one of the world’s rising stars in Cameron Hanekom.
White predicted Hanekom could play similarly to Ireland’s Josh van der Flier, who won the World Rugby Player of the Year Award in 2022.
The 22-year-old Hanekom came through at the Bulls as a No 8, but will be at openside flank at Kings Park, while White is playing Cobus Wiese at blindside flank, with captain Elrigh Louw at the back of the scrum.
Captain's Run ✅@Vodacom #URC | @URCOfficial_RSA #ForeverBlue pic.twitter.com/7uT73VJ1UZ
“It’s not specifically for this week. It’s more about trying combinations and looking at how the shape of our game evolves with three loose forwards with different attributes,” White said yesterday.
“When I was Springbok coach, we had Juan Smith, who is Cobus-like in shape; Schalk Burger, who is Cameron-like in shape; and Elrigh’s body shape reminds me of Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies and Joe van Niekerk.”
White went further back, to the late 1990s when the Boks won 17 matches in a row with a feared loose trio.
“Rassie Erasmus played six in that Bok side, with Gary Teichmann at eight and André Venter at seven. That was as close to a perfect combination as you can get.
“You had this massive man in Venter, a bit like Cobus, a six in Rassie who could play eight and had the skills to link up with the backs; and an eight in Teichmann who played a linking game with the backs, and was a lineout option and a brilliant captain.”
White says he wants to see what the red-hot Hanekom can do at openside flank.
“Cameron has played really well at eight, but I’d like to see him playing six in a different combination, a little like how Josh van der Flier plays for Leinster and Ireland.
“If Cameron gets the ball on the edge, he can run like an outside back, and then we get Cobus and Elrigh to carry in the midfield.”
White explained that today’s loose-forward experimentation is just one part of his planning to get the Bulls playing at their optimum.
“We’re only in round seven, and I want to look at all the options in terms of how we can become the best we can be,” he said.
“There’s a lot more to this selection. We’re not just looking at how we can be better against the Sharks or next week, but in the next couple of seasons.”
The Bulls backline also shows some tweaks from last week’s 30-21 Champions Cup loss to Northampton in Pretoria.
Harold Vorster is in the midfield with Stedman Gans, with Springbok Canan Moodie moving from outside centre to wing.
Devon Williams drops to the bench, where there is a returning face in Sergeal Petersen.
“Canan could always go back into the midfield against the Sharks and Devon to fullback in place of Willie (le Roux), or he could go on the right wing in place of Seb (Sebastian de Klerk),” White said.
“You could also have two real speedsters in Sergeal and Devon on the wings, with Willie at fullback.
“The Sharks kick a lot, and if you get space from kick-returns with that calibre of outside backs, it gives us another shot in the barrel to score long-range tries, especially if we have Cameron on the edge.
“This could give us serious firepower at the back-end of the game.” | Independent Media Sport
Bulls Team
15 Willie le Roux 14 Sebastian de Klerk 13 Stedman Gans 12 Harold Vorster 11 Canan Moodie 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier 8 Elrigh Louw (captain) 7 Cobus Wiese 6 Cameron Hanekom 5 JF van Heerden 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Wilco Louw 2 Akker van der Merwe 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Johan Grobbelaar 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 18 Francois Klopper 19 Sintu Manjezi 20 Marcell Coetzee 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Sergeal Petersen 23 Devon Williams.