Cape Town - While most of the attention will be concentrated on the United Rugby Championship (URC) stars, Bulls coach Gert Smal is intrigued about how a new-look loose trio will operate in the Currie Cup clash against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld today (8pm kick-off).
Smal picked six starters from the URC team that beat Munster 29-24 at the weekend – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Arno Botha and Walt Steenkamp – while Canan Moodie and WJ Steenkamp were on the bench.
There is even more firepower on the bench in the shape of Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw, Chris Smith and Cornal Hendricks.
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But Smal gave a stern response yesterday when asked about selecting URC starters in the Currie Cup side once more.
“Just to start again, it’s probably the last time I will say this: We take the Currie Cup quite seriously, and we are coaching one squad, so we just prepare for the game that’s ahead of us. That’s how we plan and that’s how we go forward.”
He did say that he will try to rest the top players who are on the bench, if the match situation allows it, but some of the new faces will look to make an impact as well.
Flank Cyle Brink makes a welcome return from a hamstring injury sustained on his Bulls debut in January, while youngster Steenkamp will start at No 8.
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The experienced Botha will captain the side from blindside flank, and the loose trio face a strong test of their abilities against the Sharks combination of captain James Venter, Thembelani Bholi and Celimpilo Gumede, particularly in the gain-line battle.
“We interchange, depending on what we want to do with the players in terms of line-outs and also scrums. Although there is a number on their backs, it’s not specifically what they will do exactly in all the set-piece and where we want to use them,” Smal said when asked about Brink – who is normally a No 7, playing at No 6.
“So, it’s purely just to see what we’ve got, and use their strengths to the best of our team and their abilities.
“It’s going to be quite exciting to see him (Steenkamp) now in a full game, and with Arno as the more senior player in the loose forwards, it’s going to be quite interesting to see how that combination is going to pan out.”
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The Sharks are unbeaten after four matches, and trail the Cheetahs in the standings on points difference alone.
The Bulls went down to the Cheetahs earlier in the tournament, but will be in confident mood after thrashing Griquas 53-27 on March 5.
“They (Sharks) are on top of the log, if I’m not mistaken. But they are well-coached, and it’s going to be a challenge for us in many ways. For us, it’s important again to see what we want to put in place, and be accurate in certain things that we need to do, and play the type of game that everyone will enjoy,” Smal said.
“They maul quite a lot, so that’s one thing that we have to stop. Scrums, they back their scrum quite a bit. Contestables, they kick quite a lot, from nine and from 10, and try to get into your half. And the breakdown – those are the type of things that are going to be a challenge, and that we need to see if we can get on top in that.”
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