New era dawns for young Bulls
OPENER: COACH PUTS HIS TRUST IN NEXT GENERATION
The new era has come and the old has passed at Loftus Versfeld, according to coach Nollis Marais, who named a squad with six debutants for the Bulls’ opening Super Rugby match against the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.
Three of the debutants are in the starting pack – with two of the replacement forwards also having never appeared for the Bulls in Super Rugby before – with Jannes Kirsten and Nic de Jager joining eighthman Arno Botha as the loose trio following the injuries to Lappies Labuschagne and Deon Stegmann.
RG Snyman starts as the number four lock alongside the experienced Grant Hattingh, while Lizo Gqoboka, the highly-rated former EP Kings loosehead prop, and second-rower Jason Jenkins are the uncapped substitutes.
Warrick Gelant is the other player new to Super Rugby, although his selection at fullback was always expected, completing an exciting backline that features the talents of four Springboks in Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Rudy Paige and Bjorn Basson.
“We need to concentrate on the players that we have and not on what players we have lost. It’s a new era, there are a lot of youngsters coming through. We need to take some chances on players now and we’ll benefit down the line. It’s time to start over and do the things we believe in. The old era has passed on, those players have gone to greener pastures and we must leave them there,” Marais said yesterday.
The 26-year-old Francois Brummer, who is on-loan from the Pumas and has just five previous Super Rugby caps, has been chosen as the flyhalf general in the absence of the injured Handre Pollard, beating Tian Schoeman, who is on the bench, to the No 10 jersey. But Marais said it was not the flyhalf, but rather the set-pieces which will govern whether the Bulls are able to get their star-studded backline going.