Lock Ruan Nortje has been appointed as the new captain of the Vodacom Bulls following the departure of Marcell Coetzee for a six month sabbatical in Japan.
Johan Goosen and Harold Vorster have been appointed vice-captains, while a leadership group which features among others Johan Grobbelaar, Elrigh Louw and Nizaam Carr will assist the 24-year-old product of Hoerskool Wonderboom in his new role.
In a year where he became a Springbok for the first time, Nortje said the privilege of being able to lead the Bulls caps what has been a big year for him.
“It has been a great year for me and I am very thankful for the way everything has gone and am excited about this new journey I am about to embark upon,” said Nortje.
“I have never been a captain before. I think I did it once or twice when needed at school, but since school I haven’t been a captain, so it will be a new experience for me and maybe a bit of a weird experience for to be running out in front of the team.”
However, as hooker Grobbelaar pointed out, Nortje has been running the lineout at the Bulls for quite some time now, and that would have got him used to some of the responsibility that he will be taking on now.
“Ruan is the right guy for the job and because he is the leader of the lineout and performs other roles a lot of calls are made by him, so this is a natural step for him,” said the hooker, who hopes to be back on the field shortly after recovering from injury.
“It is also a big privilege for me to be part of the leadership group. We are a young group and we must step up now and take responsibility. We are ready to do that. My ankle is much better so I hope to be back on the field soon.”
As he doesn’t have any captaincy experience, Nortje doesn’t have any history to measure his leadership style against, but he reckons he will be a captain that leads from the front.
“I am not a guy who speaks a lot, so I think I will be a guy who leads through actions rather than words,” said the new Bulls captain. “I think we have enough leaders that can fill what we need when it comes to leadership. It is exciting to have good leaders around me who can help, and everyone knows their own role.
“There is great mutual respect within the group. We are a young group but it doesn’t matter how young or old you are, and a lot of guys have learned from us. It is great to have leadership ownership made up mostly of young guys. But it is not just within the group that we have leaders. A lot of the guys in the wider squad are seen as leaders and everyone takes ownership of his role within the team.”
His elevation to the captaincy was not a surprise for Nortje as he was first informed by coach Jake White that Coetzee might be heading to Japan and he might be considered to step into the breach last season.
“I was told quite early in the year that Marcell might be going away towards the end of it, but it was in September that Jake came to me and said I would be taking over as captain. So it wasn’t just a case of waking up one morning to discover that I would be taking the captaincy role. I have had time to get used to the idea and become comfortable with it.”
One of the things that makes Nortje a good replacement for Coetzee as captain is his closeness to the flanker and he says he aims to take quite a lot of the elements of Coetzee’s leadership style into his own captaincy.
“Marcell and I are good mates. We were roommates since he came to the Bulls, so we have come a long way together. We speak to each other a lot and there are a lot of things I have learnt from him. His message to me was just to be myself and not try too hard and just lead by example.”
Nortje said he wasn’t certain whether his appointment was permanent or Coetzee would be taking over when he returns from Japan.
“For the foreseeable future and for the rest of this season I am definitely captain, when Marcell returns we will know more,” said Nortje.
The Bulls will return to Vodacom United Rugby Championship action after the four week break for the international window by facing the Ospreys at Loftus on Saturday afternoon.