Gelant craves action
NEW SEASON: BULLS STAR HUNGRY AFTER BEING OUT FOR THREE MONTHS
Ken Borland
It has been a time of great uncertainty at Loftus Versfeld, but a frustrating year of injuries is why Bulls fullback Warrick Gelant is approaching the 2019 season with massive excitement.
While the Bulls are set to announce Alphonse Meyer as their new CEO today, the name of their new Super Rugby coach is still unknown, although it has been whittled down to a shortlist of Victor Matfield, Southern Kings coach Deon Davids and Blue Bulls Currie Cup mentor Pote Human.
None of which is dulling the natural exuberance of Gelant.
“It was a bit of a frustrating year because I wanted to get some momentum and win some more Springbok caps, but three months out with a shoulder injury and now another two months of pre-season training makes one very hungry.
“It’s given me a chance to fix my body, get proper rest and fix all the little niggles.
“So I’m very excited about making next year a great year, the injury came at a good time.
“We don’t need a coach at the moment, John Mitchell based our last pre-season on the individual so it’s not disruptive not having a coach at the moment. If we don’t have a coach by next year then that will make it more difficult though,” Gelant said at the unveling of the Bulls’ new Super Rugby jerseys in Pretoria yesterday.
Bulls fans can rest assured, however, that their new coach’s identity will be known before the end of the year.
Gelant is also confident that the fans can look forward to a better result in Super Rugby as well.
“In the last two years we’ve been losing players which puts you under pressure. We’ve had a very young team but it’s now been brought together for a couple of years and we have the calming influence of Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel, who have such experience at international level, and two new Springbok scrumhalves. It all looks very healthy,” was Gelant’s cheery outlook.
For a golfer, timing is everything in developing a perfect swing, but it seems a lot of international rugby coaches can’t quite get their timing spot on of late.
This week we have heard of at least two top coaches who want to quit after next year’s World Cup in Japan – New Zealand’s Steve Hansen and Ireland’s Joe Schmidt – and they are in charge of the top two teams in world rugby.
Hansen, of course, has guided the All Blacks since 2011, but he said this week the World Cup would be his swansong, while Schmidt also said he would stay on only until the World Cup.
But what I found strange was the announcements being made right now.
It is rumoured that Crusaders coach Scott Robertson could take over from Hansen, while Andy Farrell is considered perhaps best suited to replace Schmidt.
Robertson has already indicated he will quit as Crusaders coach after next year’s Super Rugby competition, after leading them to back-to-back titles.
Timing could also come into play for the Wallabies’ coach Michael Cheika after a recent run of defeats, with Australia recording only four wins from 13 games this year, though there could be a risk of firing him with the World Cup less than 12 months away.
Timing is also something Bok coach Rassie Erasmus has had to carefully consider in his first year in charge of the national team.
He had to experiment at stages during the season, which was no more evident than in their Test against Wales in Washington and their dead rubber home Test against England in Cape Town.
Erasmus also had to carefully weigh how many overseas players he was going to introduce without upsetting harmony.
He has already said he won’t go wider than his current group of overseas players, though flyhalf Pat Lambie and hooker Bismarck du Plessis were possible exceptions, as they couldn’t be included after picking up injuries at stages during this season.
But does that mean the door is closed to players such as centres Jan Serfontein, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Francois Venter and Frans Steyn, wing Ruan Combrinck, flanks Marcell Coetzee and Jaco Kriel, and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach?
Of course Erasmus also has to keep in mind that players such as fullback Warrick Gelant and props Coenie Oosthuizen and Beast Mtawarira must still return from injury, and there are only so many players he can take to the World Cup.
Timing is of the essence.