Coetzee to lead Bulls into Cape Town battle?
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Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White says his team won’t be short of leaders for Saturday’s Vodacom URC north-south derby against the Stormers.
The Bulls suffered two big blows in the first half of their previous match, against the Lions at Ellis Park two weeks ago.
Lock Ruan Nortje left the field in the fifth minute with a knee injury that will sideline him until April.
And just before the break, No 8 Elrigh Louw tore knee ligaments and fractured his leg. The 25-year-old’s operation has been delayed due to swelling around the area and his long-term prognosis remains unclear.
MORE: Complications delay Louw surgery
However, White insists he isn’t worried about his leadership options heading into the Cape Town clash.
“I’ve said this to you guys a lot of times now, Grobbies [Johan Grobbelaar] is a captain, Marcell [Coetzee] is a captain, [Reinhardt] Ludwig is captain, Nizaam Carr’s a captain …” he told the media at Bulls training on Tuesday.
“We’re not in a situation where we won’t have leaders on the field, I’m comfortable that whoever gets the armband is going to get help from the other three or four who are on the field.
“I don’t believe that it’s just going to be the captaincy that’s going to win us the game. It’s going to be everyone [being] on the same page.”
Coetzee, who wore the No 6 jersey against the Lions, is most likely to be named captain having held the role on a full-time basis under White in the past.
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The Bulls are currently third on the URC log, seven points behind the second-placed Glasgow Warriors with two games in hand, while the Stormers are 12th.
White’s men beat John Dobson’s side at Loftus last year to snap a seven-match losing streak against their arch-rivals in the URC, but have yet to win in Cape Town.
“We want to finish as high as we can because we know what home-ground advantage means in the competition,” White said. “It’s going to be a good clash and I’m looking forward to it.
“We’ve never played the Stormers in the first week in February, when we’re third and they’re 12th. We’ve never played the Stormers when we’ve never had our starting 10 [Johan Goosen is injured], we’ve never played them without their No 1 lock [JD Schickerling] and fullback in Damian Willemse …
“The venue is probably the same but it’s a completely different game.”
MORE: Stormers, Bulls gear up for North-South IX
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
The post Coetzee to lead Bulls into Cape Town battle? appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
