Marco van Staden was ready to be a ‘fixer’ for the Springboks at the World Cup as a back-up hooker in case further injury struck following Malcolm Marx’s departure.

When you get to know the Bulls stalwart better, you soon realise that he likes to get stuck in, whether it’s throwing the ball into the lineout, chasing breakdown turnovers – or scratching around in a car engine.

🚨 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

Join us as we welcome the Saracens to Loftus for the first time 💪

🐂 Vodacom Bulls Vs Saracens
🗓️ 9 December
⏰ 19:30
🏆 Investec Champions Cup
🎟️ Tickets here: https://t.co/7AemmwEamc #BackTheBulls @Vodacom pic.twitter.com/mNC8YwhOxG
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) December 8, 2023

“I’ve always enjoyed working in the mechanical field, and every school holiday, I would work with my father as he is a mechanical engineer – and he always works on cars on the side, motorbikes and things like that,” the Bulls No 6 said ahead of Saturday night’s Champions Cup clash against Saracens at Loftus Versfeld (7.30pm kickoff).

“I service my own cars, and if there is a problem, I can fix it myself. I really enjoy it a lot.”

Van Staden stated that he doesn’t have to worry about lineout-throwing at the Bulls as he won’t have to cover hooker, but coach Jake White will hope that he can be more than just a nuisance at the breakdowns against Saracens.

He will be up against another classy scavenger in Scotland international Andy Christie tonight, while the English club also possess a number of England Test stars such as Billy and Mako Vunipola, Maro Itoje and Jamie George in their forward pack.

Van Staden has some idea of how Saracens operate from his brief stint at the Leicester Tigers a few seasons ago, although that period was bedevilled by injury.

But having fought his way back into the Bok set-up this year, he will be one of the key figures for the Bulls on Saturday.

“Everybody is very excited, especially the young guys. We all said at the beginning of the week that it’s like a Test match, and they are a very well-coached team,” Van Staden said.

“So, we are looking forward to the challenge – and it’s definitely going to be a big challenge, a hard game. But those are the games we live for and why we play.

“They will also be up for the game, and a lot of them haven’t played at Loftus – so it will be a challenge for them as well.

“I haven’t played against Saracens, as I joined Leicester after the first game, and then later I wasn’t able to play.

“But I was involved in meetings and we reviewed them, and they are a very well-coached team and know each other very well... They’ve been together for many years.

“They manage the game very well, and it’s similar to Test-match rugby – that’s the way they play. It’s a different environment for them, but they’ve been a good club for many years.

“They have a lot of international players from different countries, but also many England Test players.

“It’s not just another match, and the fact that it is at Loftus makes it an even bigger game. The Champions Cup is becoming a big competition for the South African teams, and we all want to compete and go further in the competition.”

Teams For Pretoria

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 13 Stedman Gans 12 David Kriel 11 Canan Moodie 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose Papier 8 Cameron Hanekom 7 Elrigh Louw (captain) 6 Marco van Staden 5 Reinhardt Ludwig 4 Janko Swanepoel 3 Wilco Louw 2 Akker van der Merwe 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.

Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Mornay Smith 19 Deon Slabbert 20 Marcell Coetzee 21 Zak Burger 22 Jaco van der Walt 23 Sergeal Petersen.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode 14 Alex Lewington 13 Elliot Daly 12 Nick Tompkins 11 Sean Maitland 10 Owen Farrell (captain) 9 Ivan van Zyl 8 Billy Vunipola 7 Andy Christie 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez 5 Hugh Tizard 4 Maro Itoje 3 Alec Clarey 2 Jamie George 1 Mako Vunipola.

Bench: 16 Theo Dan 17 Tom West 18 Christian Judge 19 Theo McFarland 20 Toby Knight 21 Aled Davies 22 Olly Hartley 23 Lucio Cinti.

@ashfakmohamed

IOL Sport