Captain Marcell Coetzee climbs ladder into pantheon of Bulls greats

This weekend against the Scarlets, Marcell Coetzee moves into fifth place on the Bulls’ all-time list of captains, something of an irony because early in his career, the Pretoria union did not want him.

Growing up on the KZN south coast, Coetzee was a massive Bulls fan, but after school at Port Natal, he was turned away by the Bulls and taken in by the Sharks, where he quickly excelled. He was accelerated through the Sharks Academy into the senior team by coach John Plumtree.

He debuted for the Sharks in 2011 and was a Springbok a year later.

Saturday’s vital URC game in Llanelli will be Coetzee’s 73rd match as captain, overtaking Anton Leonard.

“I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown,” said Coetzee, who joined the Bulls in 2021 after overseas stints at Ulster and Honda Heat (Japan). “It feels like the other day I arrived, and now I sit with this achievement.”

“It’s all thanks to the management and players who’ve helped me along the way, who have complemented the role along the way,” he said on Tuesday in a media conference from Wales.

“If you take the previous captains like Naas (Botha), Victor (Matfield), Ruben (Kruger), Joost (van der Westhuizen), it’s phenomenal.

“But in saying that, you’re only as good as the guys that you surround yourself with.”

“I have guys like Marco (van Staden), Ruan (Nortjé), and Gerhard (Steenekamp), those are experienced guys that you lean on when times get tough.

“At the end of the day, it’s a team achievement, and if you can just contribute in whatever way you can, then that is awesome. For me, it’s all about the journey with the guys, and it’s been an exceptional journey so far.”

Sitting next to Coetzee was Van Staden, who did not hold back in his praise for his captain.

“Marcell doesn’t lead with words; he leads through his actions,” Van Staden said. “He always takes the front in games and shows us by the way he plays. When we’re under pressure, he stays calm.

“He’s done nothing but great things for the Bulls jersey. He deserves his name up there with all the great captains.”

Coetzee has been leading the Bulls overseas for almost a month. Their first match was the Champions Cup match in Glasgow against the Warriors, followed by some downtime in the south of France before URC fixtures against the Dragons and Scarlets.

“On long tours, homesickness can creep in, but the guys’ mentality is very good at the moment,” said Coetzee. “It was addressed by coach Ackers (Johan Ackermann) earlier in the week.

“The biggest motivation is that we’ve never beaten the Scarlets in Wales. It keeps you humble and provides extra motivation to train harder, be sharper, and do your homework better.

“And while our game is improving in general, there are areas of concern — don’t be fooled by the margin of our win against the Dragons (47-7), it flattered us. We had to have a serious talk at halftime because we were struggling a bit.”