It could’ve been worse for Pierre
BULLS PROP TO SIT OUT FOR ‘ONLY’ SIX WEEKS Young Rossouw faces daunting task against Highlanders.
Having worked so hard to get it, loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman will be furious with himself for losing his spot in the Bulls team due to the six-week ban that was handed down to him yesterday for biting, but there is still much to be positive about, with the way wing Divan Rossouw has taken ownership of his starting place being one of the highlights of the Super Rugby campaign thus far.
Schoeman can consider himself fortunate to have half of the low-end entry point sentence of 12 weeks commuted for “the player’s early guilty plea, his good character, his good disciplinary record and his remorse,” according to the Sanzaar statement.
Rossouw, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of coming up against Waisake Naholo, one of the stars for the All Blacks last year, when the Bulls take on the Highlanders in Pretoria on Saturday.
“It’s why we play the game, to measure ourselves against the best and playing against one of the All Black wings will definitely be a challenge,” Rossouw said. “But Waisake probably doesn’t know as much about me as I know about him, so maybe I can use that to surprise him.
“Obviously there’ll be big hype around Waisake and a youngster coming up against an All Black wing, but I see him as just another rugby player Getting to start all these games for the Bulls is definitely what I was aiming for at the start of the year, I’ve waited a while for it.”
The loss of Schoeman up front will obviously be a blow to the Bulls, because he has been one of their standout performers, and Rossouw highlighted the dependence of the backline on the pack.
“Whether you win or lose all starts with the forwards and they’ve been laying a good foundation for us, especially in the set-pieces. If they can dominate the Highlanders pack then it makes it much easier for us as backs,” Rossouw said.
Schoeman’s six-week sentence pales in comparison to the 18-month suspension Johan le Roux suffered for biting New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick’s ear in 1994, although the Springbok prop’s lack of remorse counted against him.
But Australian lock Rory Arnold was given a seven-match ban in 2013 for biting Free State Cheetahs prop Ethienne Reynecke while playing for Griquas in the Currie Cup.
In 2016, Jaguares loose forward Leonardo Senatore was banned for 10 weeks for biting Keegan Daniel of the Sharks, but that was effectively the Argentine’s second offence, having been suspended for nine weeks by Sanzaar in 2013 for biting Eben Etzebeth in a Test against the Springboks.