Newcomers to top-level rugby may forget that Marcell Coetzee has 31 Springbok Test caps to his name.
Add over 70 Super Rugby caps for the Sharks, over 50 European outings for Ulster and two short stints in Japan, and it becomes clear that the 33-year-old loose forward has played a lot of rugby – despite a few major injuries along the way.
But reaching the 50-cap mark for the Bulls in last weekend’s 48-7 Champions Cup triumph over Stade Francais at Loftus Versfeld clearly meant a lot to the man who hails from Potchefstroom and made his way through Port Natal High School to the senior Sharks set-up.
“Every 50 that you achieve in your career, it’s a massive honour and privilege,” Coetzee said.
“But in particular for the Bulls, a team that I’ve supported from a young age ... To stand their afterwards, with the result going our way, the team made it very special – with your family, your baby, your wife.
“You can’t put that into words: it’s just an extremely proud moment. You reflect on how far you’ve come as a player. A guy coming from Port Natal, you always have dreams and aspirations to play rugby, and you never knew where the road is going to take you.”
While Coetzee reflected on the milestone yesterday, the victory over the Paris club will hopefully also mark a major turnaround in the Bulls’ fortunes, following a four-match losing streak.
After missing out on the Champions Cup play-offs, they are in the Challenge Cup Round of 16, and are still sitting pretty on the United Rugby Championship log in fourth position on 25 points – with two games in hand over leaders Leinster (43), Glasgow (33) and Cardiff (28).
The Pretoria outfit are now gearing up for what Coetzee stated would be a “spicy” Gauteng derby against the high-riding Lions, who thrashed the Dragons 60-10 in the Challenge Cup in Johannesburg, at Ellis Park on Saturday (2.45pm kick-off).
“The Lions are a full 80 (minutes) team, and in the last 20 minutes of our game last weekend, we kind of just let our foot off the pedal,” Coetzee said
“We can’t afford that against the Lions. They look like a fit team, and they throw the ball around – wide to wide – and I think we have to match that.
“The impact off the bench is going to be immense going into this weekend, and they’ve got threats all over the park.
“So, it’s about matching those areas, and we will have to go the full 80 if we want to be successful against these guys. It’s always more spicy and extra punch to a derby game.”
But the Bulls must be wary of getting caught up in the Lions’ high-tempo attacking approach, as they appeared to have found their rhythm on attack once more against Stade Francais.
They were measured in their approach, mixing things up between charging forward with the pack and spreading the ball out to speedy backs such as Devon Williams and Stedman Gans.
“It is one area that we also got right at the weekend (against Stade Francais) – when to make it fast and when to make it slow,” said Coetzee.
“Especially in your half, you don’t want to take too many unnecessary risks, and we had a very good balance at the weekend. When we got back into their 22, then the legs were fresh and we could be more accurate in how we took them on.
“With the new rules at the line-outs of 30 seconds, it forces you to put on tempo a bit. But you can always control how to be clever about it, and it will play a big role this weekend.
“Many of our attacking plans come from line-outs and scrums, and it’s an area where our forwards work very hard on.
“I think in the previous games, we didn’t always have the best results in the line-outs. But guys like Ruan Nortjé coming back with his experience and calmness, and Reinhardt Ludwig as well made a big difference.
“The players understand when to go quickly and when to not force the pass – just to put up that extra ruck makes a big difference. Just the understanding to know when to make those decisions ...
“I think the decision-makers like Johan Goosen and Boeta (Chamberlain) when he came on were great, and we all just fed off that.”