Cape Town - No David Kriel, no Zak Burger – from those omissions, it is quite clear what kind of approach coach Jake White wants from his Bulls team in Friday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Zebre in Parma (7.30pm SA time kickoff).
The Pretoria side arrived in the Italian city on Tuesday, and were not available for media duties as yet.
That is not a surprise, though, considering that they have a lot of work to get through ahead of Friday night, following the 29-22 defeat to the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on February 12.
The three-match ban of Morné Steyn – for a dangerous tackle on Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am – threw a spanner in the works, as it means that the Bulls didn’t have a recognised back-up flyhalf on the bench for the Zebre match, with Chris Smith sure to don the No 10 jersey.
The fact that White has opted for youngster Juan Mostert as the replacement pivot indicates that the Bulls coach wants to take the game to the Italians. He could easily have taken Kriel on tour, as the fullback has a good enough boot to fill in at No 10 if Smith had to get injured during the game.
But the official line from the Bulls is that Kriel and Burger are not injured, and did not travel to Italy due to rotation.
Mostert is one of the beneficiaries of that decision, as is exciting young scrumhalf Keagan Johannes. The latter is quite similar in style to Springbok No 9 Embrose Papier – great pace across the pitch and willing to take on the defence at close quarters – with the other halfback in the tour squad being Marco Jansen van Vuren, a big unit who can also engage the defence with his ball-carrying.
With Kriel out of the mix, Kurt-Lee Arendse is likely to return at fullback, having missed the Sharks game with a shoulder issue.
Arendse is devastating on the counter-attack, and considering that Zebre are bottom dwellers with seven consecutive defeats, the former Blitzbok star will fancy his chances with ball-in-hand.
Their finishing inside the opposition 22 has to improve considerably, though, after they wasted a number of scoring opportunities against the Sharks.
Is Madosh Tambwe the most dangerous player in the country at the moment? 🥵![CDATA[]]>🔥#TrueToTheBlue @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/fb2ogeBfrn
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) February 22, 2022
But there were enough encouraging signs for White on attack in the Sharks encounter: “Even though the result is not great, but I think the way we played… We spent lots of time in their half, and they couldn’t get out of their half – that’s also a very pleasing thing. Even our pack managed to keep them pinned in their 22 for a long time.
“We’ve just got to be a little more clinical in the 22. We said it afterwards – we looked at situations there, and we should’ve scored. I don’t only think it was because the shackles were off, but also the state of the game.
“I’m hoping that that will be the way we play anyway, even when we start a game. We probably want to start like that and get some points on the board, and then play with a bit of freedom like we did.”
Bulls Touring Squad
Forwards: Lizo Gqoboka, Gerhard Steenekamp, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jacques van Rooyen, Robert Hunt, Bismarck du Plessis, Johan Grobbelaar, Joe van Zyl, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Marcell Coetzee (captain), Arno Botha, Elrigh Louw, WJ Steenkamp, Reinhardt Ludwig.
Backs: Embrose Papier, Keagan Johannes, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Chris Smith, Juan Mostert, Harold Vorster, Lionel Mapoe, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Madosh Tambwe, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse.