Unbeaten and on song, Vodacom Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White had a simple answer for how many Springboks he wants to take on tour as the side embarks on a three-week Vodacom United Rugby Championship trip this week.
“All of them,” was White’s answer.
While some of the Springboks that starred in recent Castle Lager Rugby Championship triumphs are on the beach in Mauritius, the Bulls will be using as many of their Boks as possible, and will understand more this week when they meet the Bok management as to how to manage their stars.
Part of the issue is that all Bok players need to be given eight weeks of rest, and some have organised that three of those weeks fall from the time they left Nelspruit with the Rugby Championship trophy.
The Bulls, however, chose to play their Boks and have the delicate tiptoeing around the rest issue as they embark on three weeks away.
As White rightly points out, if they leave their Boks at home, they may not see them for 11 weeks, and if those Boks aren’t selected for the November tour, then it is a missed opportunity to use their marquee players that not only draw crowds but also provide a massive boost to their playing abilities.
That’s why the meeting that CEO Edgar Rathbone will have with the Bok management this week is crucial and will determine how many Boks go on tour with the Bulls, and how they will be managed going forward.
“It’s one of those things. If they don’t play for three weeks and then have a two week camp then it means for five weeks they don’t have any rugby and then play Scotland,” White explained after his side’s win over Ulster.
“So I’m going to have to manage them and everyone understands. A guy like Ruan Nortje had four weeks off and then got called in late. A guy like Elrigh Louw had time off and then got called in late. It’s not necessary that they have to have leave now.
“But what it is, is that between now and April we have to give them the time they need. So if they’ve had four weeks, we need to give them four. And over Christmas there is two weeks and a couple of games that we can rotate and give them off, that is all dependent on injuries obviously.”
NEED FOR MOMENTUM
White said the side needs momentum more than anything and to capitalise on their unbeaten start after two games. A win at the Ospreys this weekend will be massive for them and all points picked up on tour will go a long way towards their playoff ambitions.
“We need to build momentum, we need to get players playing. It is an interesting debate if I ask which squad is going on tour. Is it the same squad, is it a new squad? And I can’t rotate a guy like Elrigh and Cameron - because which one is touring? If I leave one and he doesn’t tour, then I’ve wasted an opportunity to play a guy after three weeks on tour.
“At this point in time, it is not an attack on everybody. I’m going to make sure we give everyone enough time. I will make sure that we give everyone time off between now and April. I’ve got certain injuries that will be back in three, four, five weeks time and therefore I can rotate the squad again.
“But I’m going to try and keep and build a team as best I can.”
White mentioned the forwards, but the same is clear with the backs. Willie le Roux sits on 97 test caps but hasn’t been a regular feature as Bok coach Rassie Erasmus bloods Aphelele Fassi in the position and gives him more game time in the Green and Gold. Will Le Roux tour in November? Or will Erasmus decide to continue Fassi’s role at the back, especially with Damian Willemse looking sharp and cued up for a return to the Bok squad?
Le Roux will be valuable on tour for the Bulls, as was noticeable on Saturday as he came into the backline as first receiver on multiple occasions and put in a masterclass on attack that helped the Bulls to victory.
White was full of praise of him afterwards, calling his performance “Unbelievable”.
“Unbelievable. I’ve said it many times, he coaches while on the field. He coaches. He gets players around him to understand what he has to do. You don’t play 97 times for South Africa in a group like this unless you can play. We are obviously very happy to have him. Obviously with a couple of injuries, to have him around is massive for us,” White said.
And the same goes for Kurt-Lee Arendse. The Bok winger is likely to tour, but after the tour joins his Japanese club for the pre-arranged sabbatical. And while he was seen a lot in the Rugby Championships, Arendse also missed a few games because of concussion. Do the Bulls take him along for his last few games? Or do they leave him to rest for the Bok cause, knowing they will only see him back at the end of the Japanese season?
All of these are questions that need to be answered, and will play a massive role in the touring squad that the Bulls will choose before departure this week.