If the Vodacom Bulls could choose one player as their MVP this season, they’d have a hard time coming up with a better prospect than utility back David Kriel.
Kriel has stepped up in the kicking void, taking over when flyhalf Johan Goosen dropped out, taking the pressure away from Willie le Roux and on two occasions now, he has slotted last-gasp penalties to give the Bulls a victory they probably shouldn’t have gotten.
Kriel’s already made inroads in the backline, playing virtually every position and giving coach Jake White a lot of options in terms of where to use him as his x-factor has often been a massive part of the Bulls' success over the past few seasons.
On Saturday, as with the game against Benetton earlier this season, Kriel stepped up to kick in the dying seconds and gave his side a victory that was against the run of play.
His exploits, while being ignored at first, have earned him a call-up to the Springbok training camp and now Kriel wants to do everything in his power to get the Bulls to go one better than last season’s final.
That’s why when he was congratulated after the win by his coach, he was more miffed that he hadn’t got the Bulls over the line earlier rather than soaking up the celebrations.
WHITE HAPPY WITH RESPONSE
“We've won two games that he's kicked the final kick,” White said after the match, explaining the reaction.
“But his words to me was if he'd kicked the conversion and didn’t hit the pole, we wouldn't have had to worry about that penalty. I'm happy for him because you know what happens as a goal kicker, those sort of things can have scars if you miss those two kicks. But I stress, we were better tonight than having to kick a penalty in the 80th minute to win the game and that was my frustration.”
White added that the big-match temperament that Kriel has is impossible to coach. “No, well you can't coach it but you can simulate it and then you hope that a player goes, 'I want to do that'. There's always been a saying in sport that you want players that when they get the penalty say, I want to kick it. That's a sign of someone that backs himself and let's be fair, David Kriel doesn't lack belief in his own ability.
“He played 15, 14, 12, 13 for the Bulls. I think he's almost on 80 games, definitely over 100 games for the Bulls but maybe not URC games and international games. He's like gold to us, let's be fair.
“We put him anywhere, he plays 80 minutes every week, he's more than BMT. Tonight he marked a backline that was probably the best attacking backline in the competition and not once or twice was he exposed. I mean, talk only about one kick. I think he's playing really good rugby and he's very, very important for us.”
Kriel just smiled when told about White’s words about him, and said he was very happy to hear he is held in high esteem.
KRIEL ‘GRATEFUL’ FOR PRAISE
“That means a lot to me personally, knowing that the coach backs me. But yes, I'm just extremely grateful since I came here in 2020 till now, for every opportunity that I got. And yes, I just don't want to let my teammates down, my coaches, and obviously also the fans, and most importantly, my family. So yes, it feels nice to hear those words said about me.
"But yes, I'm just extremely grateful to do what I love and to get the opportunities that I get."
Talking about the penalty, Kriel did say he was nervous in putting that one over, even though it didn’t look as if he even flinched.
“I experienced a bit of pressure,” he laughed in recalling the kick. “Especially, as I just mentioned, when Devon Williams saw me, he laughed at me. He said he could see that my hand was shaking when I got the kicking tee.
“I thought to myself, yeah, I've already scored a thousand goals and I've already missed a lot. So I don't have to think about it and don't go through my processes.
“I just heard Zak Burger behind me scream and then he jumped on my back. Yeah, so I said thank you very much for scoring that goal and the tension that went with it.
“I didn't think it was going to be too short. I could feel it, no, it came off my feet nicely. And as I mentioned, just before I looked up, I heard a scream behind me, so I knew it was over.
SIGNIFICANT KICK
Kriel added that he knew the significance of the kick, stopping a two-game losing streak at Loftus Versfeld.
“We lost in the Sharks and the Stormers' home game, and as a group, we want to make Loftus our fortress. And yes, it was a very serious task for us to get a win this weekend, because I think we needed it, we needed a response, if I can put it that way.
“I'm very grateful for the win, and that we pulled through at the end of the day.”
As long as Kriel keeps on pulling off the wins, the Bulls will keep smiling. And his stature both in the team and outside will keep on growing.