Bulls a step closer to 'meanest' pack with Steenkamp inclusion

Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White didn’t take long to add former Toyota Cheetahs lock Walt Steenkamp to his starting line-up, and in the process move a step closer to the “biggest, meanest, strongest pack the Bulls have ever produced.”

Steenkamp, whose 2.03m, 120kg frame will certainly add some bulk to the Bulls, signed with the team earlier in the year and had to wait until his contract ran out on 31 October before he could make the trip to Pretoria to join the new team.

And White didn’t even give him a week in the capital before getting him into the starting line-up.

Of course, it played well into the team dynamic that impressive young lock Ruan Nortje picked up a knee niggle during the win over the Stormers, and that allowed White to have a chance to partner Steenkamp with the ever-physical Jason Jenkins as well.

Jenkins will leave to return to his club in Japan next week, and has been one of the more impressive forwards in White’s pack thus far this season.

But it is clear that Steenkamp holds a spot as White looks for a forward pack that can dominate proceedings and crush opposition before them.

White added that Steenkamp hadn’t lost too many games in a Cheetahs jersey locally, and that sealed his decision to pick him straight away.

“I signed Walt, because we want to use him. It just turns out that Ruan has a bang on his knee. To be fair Ruan is 22 years old and has played every minute of our campaign this year, so I thought rather than risk him, I will give him a week to recover and it gives me a chance to see Walt in the same combination as has been working,” White said.

“It would be good to see him fitting into our team, he played well for Free State. He won the Currie Cup for Free State and he is unbeaten this year so it’s quite a nice guy to have in your squad now with the confidence he brings into the squad.”

White said it was easy to see that he enjoyed adding bulk to an already impressive physical pack.

“Of course it is my kind of pack, I want the biggest, meanest, strongest pack the Bulls have ever produced. Rugby is never going to change, I tell you that every week. To have him in there 120kg, 2.03m tall and great scrummager, is great. Not only did he win the Currie Cup with Free State but he has won the first two games with Free State as well. He hasn’t lost too many games in a long time. I wanted to get him in sooner than later.

“It’s wonderful to have a pack of forwards like that and you can see what it is doing for our backs. Our backs are playing really well, based on the fact that our forwards are playing well as a combination.”

Jenkins will have a last swansong with Sintu Manjezi on the bench, and white said he was hoping for a good farewell for the lock and kept him there as it helped with continuity.

“That is the other thing, I could have left him out, but there is no reason to leave him out. He has one more game before he goes overseas and he has played really well. I’d like to see the combination. Next week I’ve got Walt and Sintu and I can play them as well with Ruan – that is the sort of combinations we are going to have to build on going forward.

“But for now keeping Jason in the group and making one change is good for us, because there is a bit of continuity and stability in our group now.”

Manjezi has a bigger role to play down the line for the Bulls, and will probably end up more of a four lock for White’s purposes. Between Nortje, Steenkamp and Manjezi the Bulls will build on the engine room combination to try and dominate the setpiece.

“I would have thought he (Manjezi) was more like a five lock, and having looked at how Ruan has developed, and having looked at how Walt can add to us as a player, we are probably in a good situation where Sintu can double up going forward and he is more of a two jumper, four lock for us.

“If I had more time this week I could have started Sintu as a two jumper and I could have started Jason as a five jumper, but I’ve left it rather to make one change rather than two changes in the group.”

The lineout has proven an effective attacking platform for the the Bulls, boasting a 95 per cent success rate while only losing fewer than one lineout on their own throw in four matches to date.

Vodacom Bulls: David Kriel, Travis Ismaiel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl; Duane Vermeulen (captain), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Walt Steenkamp, Jason Jenkins, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen.

Reserves: Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marcel van der Merwe, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.