Paige could move after Bulls snub
SCRUMHALF: MITCHELL OMITS BOK FROM BULLS SQUAD
There’s a saying in sport that an injured athlete gets the time he is out injured added on to the end of his career, but in the case of Rudy Paige, ranked among the top two scrumhalves in the country by the Springboks for most of last year, he is likely to take that bonus and use it at a different union after he was snubbed by Bulls coach John Mitchell.
Paige was a shock omission when Mitchell announced his 38man Super Rugby squad on Monday evening and, although the No 9, capped 13 times by the Springboks, will be out until the end of February after groin surgery, the coach was pretty clear in expressing his decision that the 28-year-old does not feature in his plans anymore.
Instead, Mitchell has backed 22-year-old Ivan van Zyl, 24-yearold Andre Warner and Embrose Papier, the 20-year-old star of the Junior Springboks team.
“Rudy has been fantastic for the club, he’s given a lot to the Bulls, but I feel it’s time we moved forward with the younger scrumhalves. I like a very fast number nine and the three I’ve named all have that ability, and Embrose is potentially a world-class scrumhalf,” Mitchell explained after dropping the bombshell at Loftus Versfeld.
There was speculation late last year that Paige was heading back to the Lions, where he spent his university days, and his national ambitions would now seem to depend on that move.
Centre Dries Swanepoel, a regular in both the Super Rugby and Currie Cup teams last year, has also been omitted, an untimely injury again playing its part.
“I’ve chosen five midfielders, three number 12s and two number 13s, and one of the 12s can play outside centre. Dries is a quality guy and I’m very aware of his ability, but he’s just behind time on his ankle rehabilitation and will have to work hard to get back in contention,” Mitchell explained.
The centres named in the squad are co-captain Burger Odendaal, Springbok Jesse Kriel, JT Jackson, Francois Brummer (who can also play flyhalf) and utility Johnny Kotze.
Mitchell decided to have co-captains – loose forward Nic de Jager is the other skipper named – in order to have more inclusive leadership, with last year’s captain, Adriaan Strauss, still having an important role to play with the experience he brings to the squad.