Tightheads & Loose Balls

● Asked if he had come up against a player he never thought he would, Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier had a quick answer this week. “Liam Messam,” said Papier of the Chiefs' 34-year-old flanker. “He's so old and I am quite young. It was a ‘wow’ moment to play against him, as well as TJ Perenara. I made my debut against him.”

● Papier wasn’t so much lured as he was drawn to Pretoria. He has been a Bulls fan for longer than he cares to admit. “It’s funny. My whole family are Stormers fans. Nobody can understand it. I didn’t even tell my friends.” It’s hardly surprising that he sees Francois Hougaard as a role model. “We looked up to him . . . and his lifestyle. The beautiful cars . . .”

● Former France hooker Yannick Bru has been consulting as a forwards coach with the Sharks. As one sage scribe noted this week, the Frenchman may be surprised to discover how many other folk in Durban and its northern suburbs are also called “bru”.

● “My disc was still fusing with vertebrae so there was no chance of jogging (away) anywhere.” That’s how former Wallaby flank George Smith described the aftermath of an incident that earned him 20 days in a Tokyo jail at the start of the year. It had been alleged that Smith refused to pay his taxi fare, and had pushed the 58-year-old taxi driver before running away. Smith, however, was eventually released without charge. The result is that Smith has started playing domestic club rugby for the first time in a decade.

● Following flyhalf Robert du Preez’s move to Durban it was just a question of time when he would end up on the same team sheet as his brothers Jean-Luc and Dan. Injury prevented that from happening until this week. Their dad, Sharks coach Robert, must have felt a sense of accomplishment this week.