Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Rassie will be keeping a close eye on Loftus battle of flyhalves
THERE is something about today’s north-south derby at Loftus Versfeld that has a feel of a Springbok trial.
It will certainly be that way for young Stormers flyhalf Damian Willemse who will come face to face with Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard.
There have been many questions about Willemse’s readiness to play at the highest level and do so with the same flamboyance and skill that he has displayed particularly this year
With the June series against England fast approaching Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus will undoubtedly want to have the best of his players on form and what better way to test them against the might of the New Zealand, Australian and South African Super Rugby franchises.
Willemse has held his own in the contests against New Zealand teams but this will be the first time in his fledgling career that he will test his worthiness against Pollard who is showing glimpses of returning to his best form yet.
While Bulls coach John Mitchell has no doubt in his mind that Pollard would walk into the Springbok number 10 jumper were the Springboks to play the English next weekend, he is also not oblivious to the danger that Willemse will pose if unattended.
“He’s a great attacking footballer and he will definitely test our line, we are well aware of that. We look forward to him playing flat, we’ve done a little bit of work on him as well so we know exactly what is coming and we have a good 10 as well,” said Mitchell.
As much as Mitchell will be
. desperate to see his team graft themselves to victory and break their four match losing streak, it will be Erasmus who will care little of the outcome of this game but more on how certain individuals, from both sides of the divide, fare.
Erasmus’eyes will also be fixated on Bulls fullback Warrick Gelant and his continued growth as the best number 15 in the country but there will also be some interesting duels in the midfield with Damian de Allende facing Burger Odendaal and EW Viljoen looking to test himself against Springbok Jesse Kriel who has hit a rich vein of form in recent weeks.
“I think there is a lot of centre competition in Super Rugby and so it is going to be a good one. I think he will be coming hard at us and will want to show that he is a Bok. Jesse and I will have our work cut out but looking forward to it,” said Odendaal.
Out wide on the wings the Stormers hold the aces with the two Springbok wings in Raymond Rhule and Dillyn Leyds but they will have their hands full with Bulls wing Travis Ismaiel putting in performances worthy of him getting a look in at international level.
Up front Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane will face an acid test at tighthead when he comes up against another Springbok in Steven Kitshoff while Jason Jenkins will want to tower over the Stormers and Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit in the lineouts and forward battle exchanges.
But the reality of this derby will not escape the players and even though they want their names called out when Erasmus names his Bok squad in June, their immediate hurdle will be to help their respective teams to victory.
Even though the Bulls have come short in their outings against the Lions, reds, Chiefs and Crusaders, they will know that getting their execution right and ensuring that they have the endurance to see them through to the final whistle, they stand a good chance of knocking the Stormers off their perch as the second best in the South African conference.
“We just have to stay in the armwrestle and give ourselves a chance to win the game. If we can give an 80 minute performance and lose out at the end, the other team will really have to be better than us. Otherwise if we can fight until the end we will make it difficult for the opposition.”
“We’ve had glimpses of it being perfect but it is never going to be perfect. We lacked in certain areas in the couple of the games, we are still looking for that performance where we have no mistakes. The guys are starting to understand the structures and if we stick to the structures the result will take care of itself,” Odendaal added.