Strauss left on the bench

It’s been a bit of an underwhelming start to Adriaan Strauss’ Super Rugby campaign.

Not that one should be too surprised given the pre-season talk that the experienced former Springbok captain would be used in a value-adding capacity for the Bulls, whether it is as a starting option or bench player.

Given coach John Mitchell’s main focus on youth, Strauss was probably always going to be doing duty as a substitute.

However, as reality sets in for the men from Loftus Versfeld after two consecutive defeats, there’s a distinct sense that maybe the 31-year-old hooker is being under-utilised.

Strauss has played 95 minutes to date and got a particularly decent workout last weekend against the Reds, where he eventually had to complete seven tackles.

Asked whether his persistence with Jaco Visagie for Friday’s meeting with the Chiefs in Hamilton suggests that a pecking order has been established, Mitchell was somewhat dismissive.

“We’ll leave the hooker issue as a weekly selection discussion,” said the New Zealander yesterday.

“I don’t really deal with the future in this regard. We just deal with one race at a time. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Jaco, Adriaan or Edgar (Marutlulle) that starts.”

One area Mitchell is bolstering with a Springbok is at tighthead, where Trevor Nyakane starts.

“We’re happy with his progress,” said the Bulls mentor. “We think it’s important to get him started.”