Sadie sad exit, Beyers gets nod as Bulls turn the Paige
IT MIGHT be the end of the road for Blue Bulls centre Johann Sadie but the beginning of a new journey for his teammates in the second round of the Absa Currie Cup.
Yesterday, out-of-sorts Sadie was dropped from the Bulls match 22 to face Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday along with fullback Clayton Blommetjies and scrumhalf Ruan Snyman. Sadie has been replaced by the young and steady Ullrich Beyers while Jurgen Visser comes in at fullback and the exciting Rudy Paige will make his starting debut at scrumhalf for the Bulls after coming on as a replacement in his three appearances this season.
While Blue Bulls coach Pine Pienaar emphasised that Sadie would return to the team later in the competition, he did not mince his words when saying that Beyers, Paige and Visser are the changes the Bulls need to help halt their two-match losing streak and return to winning ways. “Johann has had a difficult season and has struggled with a lot of injuries and his form. We know what he can do, otherwise we would not have bought him if he was not a special player. I don’t think he is finished in a Bulls jersey and we might see him back in the next two weeks,” Pienaar said yesterday at the team announcement
“Ullrich played very well in the games he featured for us and he is the type of player we will need on Saturday with his directness while Johann is the kind of player that needs space. I think Rudy has done well coming off the bench and he lifts the tempo which is what we are looking for,” Pienaar added.
However, Pienaar is not putting the blame on the players he has dropped and revealed that he himself shoulders the responsibility for where his team are at the moment.
“Everything that happened is my responsibility, so there is no excuse from management’s side. Where we are on the log is my responsibility. I won’t say that the players haven’t pulled their weight or aren’t committed. What happens on the field, how we plan and what we do is what we set out during the week. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong. The biggest responsibility from my side is to keep the guys in a place where we know that it is one win and we are back in the game.
“We know the position we are in and from our side we can work a bit smarter and do things more effectively and be more accurate. That is the message for the players.
“I back the 22 guys that I pick each week and there are a few changes this week but the guys who have come in know that I want them to go play, live their dream and lift themselves.
“Where we are and stand, I take full responsibility and hopefully this weekend we can play better rugby and make ourselves a bit more proud with what we do,” said Pienaar.
Blue Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter, on the other hand, encouraged his players to dig themselves out of the rut they find themselves in and has called on his team to show what they are made off.
“I think we are missing our killer instinct. It is no longer what we can say but rather what we can do on the field. At the beginning of the season we were saying the right things but we weren’t doing that on the field. All the senior players will need to give their best this weekend and so, too, the rest of the team,” Potgieter said.