2019 World Cup spices up Super Rugby campaign
Prop Nyakane prioritises match against Stormers
This year’s World Cup in Japan is still about six months away and experienced Bulls prop Trevor Nyakane has admitted that the competition will be at the back of many players’ minds in the Super Rugby campaign.
The Bulls start their Super Rugby season with a potentially spicy South African derby against the Stormers at Loftus on Saturday and Nyakane said those who raise their hands in the competition will improve their chances of World Cup selection. “Obviously everyone is talking about the World Cup but for me it’s only about the Bulls at this point in time‚” he said as the Bulls prepared for the high-profile visit of their bitter rivals at the weekend. “The World Cup will come later in the year. If the Bulls do well, then I will most likely get selected; all I am worried about now is the Bulls. “I believe that if we do well as a union‚ the chances of me getting into the World Cup squad are bigger but‚ like I said earlier‚ my focus is on doing well for the Bulls. I want to help the Bulls to achieve things that we want to achieve; whatever comes later I will deal with it at that stage.” The Bulls lost to the Stormers in a pre-season friendly in Cape Town two weeks ago. Nyakane said they lost because they gave away soft tries. “It was our mistakes that cost us that game against the Stormers two weeks ago but we have worked on those things and hopefully they are sorted out.
“We all know that if you are going to make such mistakes against a good side like the Stormers‚ they are going to punish you the whole day. It is something that we have to rectify by keeping the ball in hand and making sure that there is continuity in the game‚” he said, adding that no player needs motivation for a big game against the Stormers.