The Vodacom Bulls have given their rising star scrumhalf, Bernard van der Linde, a starting spot against a strong Cell C Sharks side as they head into their Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby match in Durban on Saturday.
Van der Linde, who impressed in the Heineken Champions’ Cup win over Lyon a few weeks ago and also played in a second-string side against Exeter, made such an impression that the Bulls decided to give him another go against the star-studded Sharks side.
The Bulls also made several other tweaks to their side, including moving Johan Goosen to fullback to accommodate Chris Smith at flyhalf, bringing Cornal Hendricks in to his regular outside centre position and starting Simphiwe Matanzima at loosehead for the game.
“Bernard is incredibly fast, and it will be an interesting clash against Grant Williams. His decision-making is one of his assets and he was very good against Lyon, and perhaps not as good against Exeter - but to be honest, we as a team weren’t too good that day.
“He now gets a chance to play in a different team, a team full of stars that we rate, so it will be interesting. With the rain his kicking game will also be very important for us.”
White said that the move to accommodate Smith and Goosen was precisely because it worked in the previous derby at Loftus Versfeld.
“Last time we played them we picked those two between 10 and 15 jersey, because we didn’t have Kurt-Lee and Canan for that game we played Goosen at 15 and Chris at 10 and that combination worked for us,” White said.
“We played reasonably well and it gives us two kickers and two passers, so that we can actually keep the ball and move it two passes away with two flyhalves. It gives us two kicking options which helps a little bit.
“I heard it might rain in Durban, which also suits us if we play with those two players. The Sharks don’t play much rugby in their own half, but they have a good kicking game. A guy like Makazole Mapimpi is good in the air. It isn’t a reaction only to them, but it is more that it worked for us last time with those two guys together. We felt that it was a tactic that worked for us at home and we would like to see it work it again.”
White said his team was raring to “give it a go” but underlined the fact that away wins are rare in the URC.
“This is the game that you play against incumbent Springboks,” White said.
“It is not do or die. It is an away game, and the record in the competition is between 20 and 30 percent that you win away. Out of 80 games only 25 have been won by the away team. Obviously, you want to win every game, and it has only been done once when a team won every game. We are going there to give it our full go but it is an away game.
“We have to just be there at the playoffs and we know more than anybody, you have to play your best rugby at the back end of the competition with the best players in the last three weeks and you can win the competition.
“There was a lot of questions last week about rotating players and not taking best teams, and I don’t want to bang the same drum but we arrive back on Monday at lunchtime to play the Stormers on Friday, there was no way we would have been adequately prepared.
“As it is, we play Saturday, Sunday is New Year’s Day and we leave Monday to arrive on Tuesday in Wales and we play Friday so we only have one training day. You do your sums and it is just a question of sometimes packaging a bit differently in order to get the best out of your players in the back end of the competition when you need them to be fit and at their best.”
The match will kick off at 4.45pm and is live on SuperSport
Vodacom Bulls: Johan Goosen; Canan Moodie, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Chris Smith, Bernard van der Linde; Elrigh Louw, Cyle Brink, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje (captain), Ruan Vermaak, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Sebastien Lombard, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel.