Bulls coach Jake White is bullish in his backing of lock Cobus Wiese to produce the type of performance in the United Rugby Championship final against Leinster that will earn him a Springboks debut in July.
White lauded Wiese’s presence as influential and significant in the Bulls’ ability to withstand the challenge of the Sharks in the semi-final, the the Bulls were reduced to playing 13 against 15.
The Bulls were two forwards down, with veteran Marcell Coetzee and wonder kid Cameron Hanekom binned within minutes of each other.
Wiese stood tallest in inspiring the Bulls try-line defence in the next 10 minutes.
‘Cobus Wiese showed that against a really tough, resilient team with his defensive effort, the way he kept getting up and making the big hits, keeping them from our tryline. I hope he gets a Test cap soon because this union prides itself on producing Test locks,’ said White. ‘It was when we won the semi-final, in that five minutes before half-time, when we kept them out when they had a two-player advantage.’
Wiese has been included in Rassie Erasmus’s 55-strong Springboks squad announced a week ago. The squad will prepare for the non-international warm-up against the Barbarians FC in Cape Town on 28th June and then the two-Test series against Italy and one-off Test against Georgia in July.
Wiese is the younger brother of Springboks No 8 and 2023 World Cup winner Jasper (Wiese).
The younger Wiese returned to South Africa this season to play for the Bulls and started in 17 of 18 matches at No 4 lock. He averages 54 minutes a match.
Having been schooled in Upington, in the Northern Cape, he was drafted to Western Province in 2016, having represented SA Schools in 2015. He played for WP u19s and WP u21s and SA under 20s in 2016 and the following year made his Stormers and Western Province debut. He played 32 matches for the Stormers in Super Rugby before moving to Sale Sharks in Manchester, England, where he played in the Premiership and Champions Cup. He played 86 times for Sale.
Older brother Jasper (by a year at 29 years of age), has played 34 Tests, been on the winning side 26 times, is a World Cup winner, a British & Irish Lions series winner, a Rugby Championship winner and has a remarkable five wins in seven matches against the All Blacks.
Both Wiese brothers are in Erasmus’s Springboks squad, with Jasper recovering from a neck operation, which ruled him out of the latter part of the Japanese League One season.
WIESE INSPIRED BY PIETER-STEPH DU TOIT
RASSIE ERASMUS’S SPRINGBKS SQUAD 2025
URC FINAL: ALL RUGBY ROADS IN DUBLIN LEAD TO CROKE PARK
Src: keo.co.za
