Injury-depleted Bulls face a tough Currie Cup schedule
PRETORIA: The week’s rest the Blue Bulls enjoyed so early in their Currie Cup campaign could prove to be what they needed ahead of three tough fixtures against the Golden Lions and Sharks at home, before taking on Western Province – all of these in a matter of seven days.
The Lions and Sharks have already played two games, each winning one and losing one, whileWestern Province have only played once, and that was a loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
And the Bulls were dealt a heavy blow when captain Ruan Steenkamp was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in training at Loftus Versfeld yesterday.
His absence will hit the Bulls particularly hard because of their thin stocks at openside flank.
Roelof Smit is still a month away from returning to the field after suffering a knee injury in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge
The unavailability of Steenkamp and Smit will mean the Bulls will face the Lions and Sharks with only two recognised and experienced openside flanks in Shaun Adendorff and Nic de Jager, while coach Nollis Marais could also consider shifting former Sevens star Boom Prinsloo to number six.
Marais will also have to deal with another mini crisis at hooker with first choice Jaco Visagie suffering from a shoulder injury, while Edgar Marutlulle still has another week of rehabilitation left and Cornel Els is also on the casualty list.
Jan-Henning Campher will in all likelihood get the nod to start at two with Junior Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar in the running to get his Currie Cup debut.
But the Bulls would have taken a lot of confidence from their recent 51-45 win over Griquas and will fancy their chances of taking some points off the Lions, whose senior playeres are still involved with Super Rugby.
Another big boost to the team’s confidence is the return to training of Springbok wing Jamba Ulengo, centre Dries Swanepoel and utility back Johnny Kotze but it is highly unlikely that Marais will want to tinker with his backs after they outran and outsmarted Griquas.
The Bulls will also have Springbok tourist Lizo Gqoboka at their disposal.