Jake White has often spoken about wanting to develop a large number of the Bulls players into Springboks.
He has virtually achieved that goal now, as there are nine Bulls in the 35-man Bok group that was updated yesterday with the addition of Wilco Louw and Johan Grobbelaar, following an ankle injury to Jan-Hendrik Wessels that has ruled him out.
But the Bulls may now become the victims of their own success, as they face a daunting next few months in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup.
After completing the current three-week European tour tonight against Benetton in Treviso (8.35pm start), the likes of Elrigh Louw, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Wilco Louw and Grobbelaar will join up with the Bok side on Sunday ahead of their week-long training camp in Jersey ahead of the three Tests against Scotland, England and Wales.
YOUR Vodacom Bulls players who will join the Springboks on their November tour 🏆
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) October 24, 2024
Jan-Hendrik Wessels has been ruled out of the Springboks' tour due to injury. Wilco Louw and Johan Grobbelaar will now be joining the rest of the squad 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DpB0y0uz8M
At least Willie le Roux, Ruan Nortjé and Marco van Staden were able to get a bit of a break over the last few weeks before the Bok trip.
The Pretoria side, though, will resume their season away from home again, as they face Connacht in Galway on November 30 and Saracens in London a week later.
Their next home game is a Champions Cup clash against Northampton at Loftus Versfeld on December 14.
On top of that, Arendse will be joining his Japanese club Sagamihara Dynaboars after the Bok tour.
So, the Bulls may be missing many of their stalwarts for their two overseas matches after the international window.
“When I started here, we had Trevor (Nyakane) and Duane (Vermeulen) only. So, to have so many Springboks now is fantastic,” White said from Treviso yesterday.
“It comes with a different management skill. The Lions have no Springboks (in the UK tour squad), so the next two months is basically an easier transition as you are not losing players in and out of your team.
“But we were fortunate to have that for a couple of seasons. It is something new, and I must say a very difficult juggling act as it’s leave, Test matches and cohesion, and the ability to up-skill certain players quickly while your senior players are away.
“It’s a very unique time for us as a club as it’s not something we’ve had to manage over the last four seasons.
“Wilco last played in 2021, and when I told him that he’s been drafted into the squad, he was very, very happy.
“From a personal point of view, he’s now been away for three weeks. He was planning on going home obviously, and they will assemble on Sunday, after our game.
“Then it’s four weeks in the UK... He’s got a little boy who is one or under one... You could see he’s very happy, and his wife understands – thank goodness. But it’s tough for a young family.”
But the immediate challenge is a Benetton team flying high after wins over the Sharks and Dragons in the last fortnight, while the Bulls will hope to finish off their tour in style after going down to the Scarlets 23-22 last week.
White made nine changes to his team yesterday, and the most significant will be the return from injury of Devon Williams at fullback, due to his big left boot and pace out wide.
David Kriel is also back at inside centre alongside Moodie, while Aphiwe Dyantyi comes in at right wing.
Embrose Papier will add real zip at scrumhalf too, while Elrigh Louw will captain the side at No 8, with Cameron Hanekom on the bench to make a big impact in the second half.
📸 from the last time we met Benetton in the @Vodacom #URC Quarter Final 🔥#ForeverBlue pic.twitter.com/E1uqyY1oGI
Wessels’ injury sees Alulutho Tshakweni donning the No 1 jersey, and youngster JF van Heerden will face a big test in running the lineouts at No 5.
“They play rugby for the right reasons and the competition is healthy. I don’t feel that there’s any needle when these teams play each other,” White said about Benetton.
“Their recruitment is really good, and they’ve got a great squad in terms of youngsters and experience. I had supper with their coaches on Monday, and it’s one of the fixtures I look forward to every year.
“They’ve a really well-balanced squad and put players in certain positions that makes their squad so much stronger.
“They made the quarter-finals last year, and we played really well to beat them. They recently beat the Sharks with a bonus point, and it doesn’t matter which Sharks team that played – they would’ve taken a massive amount of confidence from beating a SA team at home.
“It’s going to be a tough game, like it always is, but we just have to find a way to play our best rugby.”
Bulls Team
15 Devon Williams 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi 13 Canan Moodie 12 David Kriel 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Boeta Chamberlain 9 Embrose Papier 8 Elrigh Louw (captain) 7 Reinhardt Ludwig 6 Marcell Coetzee 5 JF van Heerden 4 Cobus Wiese 3 Wilco Louw 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Alulutho Tshakweni.
Bench: 16 Akker van der Merwe 17 Dylan Smith 18 Francois Klopper 19 Ruan Vermaak 20 Cameron Hanekom 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Stedman Gans 23 Sebastian de Klerk.