Nizaam Carr has returned from financially stricken Wasps to the Vodacom Bulls and has been chosen at openside flank for Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with the Osreys at Loftus.
It is not the first time that Carr has worn the No 6, because he did so for a while for the Stormers and Western Province when Allister Coetzee was coaching the Cape team. Back in that era, which was around the time Bulls director of rugby Jake White was coaching the Sharks, Carr was expected to bring the traditional openside ball scavenging strengths, and as a stop-gap he wasn’t bad.
However, White says there won’t be a big emphasis on his ball winning abilities on Saturday, and he is not being expected to be a replica of the two ace opensiders that are currently missing from the Bulls line-up in the form of Marco van Staden (Springboks) and Marcell Coetzee (now with the Kobe Steelers in Japan).
“Nizaam is not an out and out No 6, but we have to pick what is available,” said White at the team announcement press conference on Friday.
“Nizaam brings so much in other departments, and anyway with Bismarck (du Plessis) there, we feel we have that base covered. Bismarck is such a good ball scavenger that he could easily play No 6. We’ve had Marco and Marcell in that position before, and that means we’ve been spoiled, and probably why people are asking the question. They are comparing Nizaam to those other guys, which is unfair, because he has a different skill set.”
White explained that it was his deft attacking skills that he was expecting from the 31-year-old against the Ospreys.
“Nizaam is unbelievable on attack. We have a good backline and having Nizaam run in between them is a big skill as well. He doesn’t have poaching skills, at least not on the level of the likes of Marco and Marcell, but he does bring other things.”
Two members of the Bulls backline that White enthused about are centres Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe, who are coming together for the first time on the basis of what they did as a combination for several years for the Lions team that contested three consecutive Super Rugby finals.
“One reason we went for them is that they played Super Rugby finals together,” explained White.
“There is a book called Cohesion Analytics. It says people who spend hours together in certain positions tend to build an understanding that isn’t easily broken. They would have spent hours training and practising together and in that sense are probably the most experienced midfield combination in South Africa.
“I am confident this centre pairing will work and we will need them to do well tomorrow (Saturday) as we want to play through their (Ospreys) centres. I am not saying this will always be the combination, but it is for the Ospreys game. I have thought of playing Canan Moodie at outside centre (when he is back from Springbok duty), and we have other options, and a lot of interchangeability at the back, which is what we want.”
On the challenge posed by the Ospreys, White felt there was one good reason why the visitors should not be underestimated, and that was their recent draw with the reigning URC champions, the Stormers.
“They drew with champions and that means they can play. I know not all the main guys are there, but Welsh rugby is under pressure at the moment and I know rugby players are the same the world over. When they see the national team struggle, they see an opportunity. They drew with the Stormers and they gave us a tough time when we played them away so we know we are going to have to play well to beat them.”
This will be the first game that Ruan Nortje leads the team from his position in the second row and White says he is excited about seeing how he develops in the captaincy role.
“Ruan is very much an extension on Marcell’s personality, they spend a lot of time together and are good friends. They also share the same hobbies, such as hunting. They also both know what it is like to feel the disappointment of not being selected for national teams when they were juniors,” said the Bulls coach.
“There will be differences. Like Marcell is more emotional and will be more vocal. But I stressed to Ruan that he must have his own personality. It’s funny, when I first arrived we had an experienced leadership group with players like Duane Vermeulen, Geo Aplon and Marco Botha, now we are seeing some of the rookies of that initial period graduating into leadership roles. I hope they do well and I am very excited about the prospect, but I have told Ruan he mustn’t try and be anyone else, I don’t want him to be a Frik du Preez or Naas Botha, I just want to see him be Ruan Nortje.
Vodacom Bulls team: Wandesile Simelane, David Kriel, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw, WJ Steenkamp, Nizaam Carr, Ruan Nortje (captain), Jano Swanepoel, Francois Klopper, Bismarck du Plessis, Gerhard Steenkamp. Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Mornay Smith, Ruan Vermaak, Cyle Brink, Zak Burger, Morne Steyn, Marco Janse van Vuren.