Cape Town - The Bulls may still be missing a number of Springboks, but will get a few back in time for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash against the Ospreys at Loftus Versfeld (3pm kickoff).
Wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie, and loose forward Marco van Staden are in the match-23 for the world champions’ showdown with England at Twickenham this weekend, while flyhalf Johan Goosen is part of the bigger squad in London.
But on the other side of the scale, Bulls boss Jake White was able to welcome big No 8 Elrigh Louw, lock Ruan Nortje and props Simphiwe Matanzima and Mornay Smith in Pretoria this week following their return from the South Africa A tour of Ireland and England.
Powerful blindside flank Cyle Brink is also back from a serious hamstring injury, and along with new signing Nizaam Carr, the Bulls are covered in the absence of Van Staden and regular captain Marcell Coetzee, who is on a sabbatical in Japan.
Bulls forwards coach Russell Winter said from Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday that while they are delighted to have players involved in the national set-up, it was important to get the team back into the swing of things in the URC competition.
He added that first-choice hooker Johan Grobbelaar is about a week away from his injury comeback, and prop Lizo Gqoboka is not far from getting back onto the pitch either.
“It goes without saying: they (Van Staden and Coetzee) are two unbelievable players in our system. Marco came back and is such a good man and player, and has such a massive influence around the field in terms of his defence, and his breakdown work is unbelievable,” Winter said.
“Marcell is a leader and stood out every single week for us – he was outstanding at the breakdown, and with his carries and cleans. They are players that we will definitely miss.
“But the guys coming in… We have Cyle Brink coming back from his injury. We have WJ Steenkamp, who has really stuck his hand up.
“We have Elrigh back, and a lot of loose forwards, when you look at guys like Phumzile (Maqondwana) and Nizaam Carr, and we know their capabilities are quite high.
“We are trying to manage the load of the guys who came back, and we are almost at full strength, so that’s great at this time of the year.”
The Bulls’ last encounter was the 40-27 victory over the Sharks at Loftus on October 30, and they cannot afford to slip up at home soil against the Ospreys, who are also missing a number of internationals as Wales are facing Australia on Saturday.
“We try to simulate that in training. We try to make sure we have deliberate training in what we do, and create scenarios that are as close to the game as possible,” Winter said.
“That’s exactly what we need to do to make sure that we are up to speed with what’s happening on Saturday. The way we’ve been training for the last few weeks have been good for the guys, as we’ve maintained contact and fitness levels.
“So, hopefully there is not too much rust in Saturday’s performance, and we can get a rhythm, chemistry and cohesion going nice and early.”
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