Coetzee can still have big impact: Madigan
And coach Mcfarland confirms he will pick departing Springbok
HE had just kicked 22 points, propelling Ulster towards their first away win in an Irish interprovincial derby in five years as well as allowing the province to wrap up 2020 on a winning note.
And yet there was other business which needed addressing, and Ian Madigan was willing to put aside his own achievements from a foul night in Galway to provide his own take on a certain Marcell Coetzee and his impending departure to the Vodacom Bulls.
Coetzee — whose three-year deal with the Bulls, starting in July after the Rainbow Cup, was officially announced yesterday — had dominated the agenda since Christmas Day, so the fact that Ulster have now gone nine wins from nine in the Guinness PRO14 could wait.
Just in case there might be any notions that there has been a rupture in the camp regarding Coetzee leaving Ulster a year early, Madigan made it clear that the squad fully support his decision, even though there were clear rumblings on social media from CEO Jonny Petrie.
“(Marcell) came in during the week, he stepped up and spoke really well,” said the 31-year-old, who missed just one kick from seven shots in Sunday night’s victory in Connacht.
“We all understand that. He wants to go back to his home country.
“He’s a guy who comes in every day, gives 100 per cent in training, 100 per cent on the field, and we get that.”
Switching back to the actual lead-up to Sunday night’s game, Madigan explained: “There are two ways of looking at it. You are on your way to three (defeats) ina-row and a marquee player is leaving the club.
“Or you can look at it a different way. We know we could have won our two European games. We didn’t, but we could have.
“And, look, we know as a collective that the group is really strong. There are great young guys coming through who’ll be ready to step up (after Coetzee leaves) and, look, (we) roll on.”
When asked if Coetzee would be featuring for Ulster again this season — which is scheduled to run until June thanks to the new Rainbow Cup — Dan McFarland’s answer was in the affirmative.
The Ulster coach also said: “Marcell’s a great player and he’s been really good for us.
“We would have loved him to stay for one more year but sports teams are always in a state of flux.
“It’s a loss for us (Coetzee going) but there is going to be an opportunity in this as well.”
The victory over Connacht has put Ulster seven points in front of Leinster, who have two games in hand and, thanks to the reduced format, Mcfarland’s squad now have seven outings to go before the PRO14 final.
“We’ve got some exciting games to come and a little bit of an unusual format as if you want to qualify for a play-off in this competition we’ve got to finish top of our group, and there is a team in our group (Leinster) that doesn’t lose many matches so we’ll try and keep the intensity going.”
Coetzee, who has been with Ulster since 2016, will hook up with the Bulls this summer, just ahead of the scheduled British and Irish Lions tour, and the 29-year-old Springbok has signed a three-year deal with Jake White’s side.
“I’m really looking forward to calling Pretoria and Loftus Versfeld my new home,” said Coetzee.
Jake White, director of rugby at the Bulls said: “Marcell is a phenomenal player and any team in the world would be ecstatic to have a player of his calibre joining its structures.
“He is currently playing some of the best rugby of his life. He’s excited about being back in South Africa, and making Loftus his home.”
White had previously admitted, in November, to talking “as often as I can” to Coetzee though, apparently, not about making the move home.
However, this had set off some alarm bells here that Coetzee was clearly on the Bulls’ radar.
White went on: “Of course we’d talk about someone who we think is coming out of contract at a certain time.
“Legally you are not allowed to start interacting when they’ve got contracts, so we’re not necessarily talking to him, but talking about him to our board members and CEO and making sure, longterm, we can create a really good, special team.”