Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White says he “feels sorry” for his pivot Johan Goosen given the extra pressure that suddenly is upon him to perform at Springbok level.
Goosen returned home this week after taking a knock to the head and following the return to play protocols, but he has been invited to the Springbok training camp in Stellenbosch on Sunday as the only specialist flyhalf and already the debates are flying whether this is fair or not.
White feels that the expectation is too high on Goosen at the moment, especially as he has come back in recent weeks from a 11-month hiatus in rehabilitating from a knee injury and feels he needs another “five to six” games before he will be at this best.
“I feel sorry for him, there seems to be an expectation that he just arrives and will be the best player on the field,” White said in naming his team for his side’s match against Benetton on Friday night.
“Before the injury he was on fire, and was the best player in the competition, and then he got injured and was out for 11 months. I’ve never coached a guy who has had an 11-month injury and comes back and immediately plays his best.
“I feel sorry for him, he has this burning desire to play for the Springboks again but is he ready? I don’t think he is where he wants to be.”
White said it was a catch-22 for Goosen, who would always want to do his best for the Springboks but he wondered whether or not he was ready at the moment.
“When the opportunities come, it isn’t about whether you are good enough or tough enough - that he is - to take the opportunity. The one thing I know is that he is driven enough to succeed, but it is not ideal and he would want more game time.
“Saying that he is going into a team that are world champions and are settled, but in the real world you’d want him to play lots of games. Last year this time he beat the SA A side almost on his own. That’s why we’ve signed him until 2026 - we have a long term plan and will handle him well.”
White said the Bulls goal was always to get Goosen into the Springbok team again but that “ideally he probably needs a little more time” and he hoped the public would be “patient and understanding in that regard.”
“He isn’t the player he is right now, but he is a lot better than two weeks ago - it takes a while to get to that level, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
White said he had perhaps been conservative with Goosen’s return to play but he didn’t want to see him return to early and be injured again.
“We always had the goal to have him ready in November and also for us in December. He perhaps needs five or six games to be back at his best, but things in life don’t always work according to a timeline. He will have to adapt.”