While navigating resting protocols, Jake White says the Vodacom Bulls are keen to know which of their Springboks will be unavailable for selection due to the November Tests.
The Boks will kick off their end-of-year campaign against Scotland at Murrayfield on 10 November, then a highly anticipated clash against England in London, before taking on a rebuilding Wales side at the Principality Stadium.
The Bulls demolished Ulster in their second match of the 2024-25 Vodacom URC campaign in Pretoria last week, and will now refocus for a three-match tour to Europe, which kicks off with a clash against the Ospreys in Wales on Saturday.
Fresh from the helping the Boks win the 2024 Rugby Championship, Elrigh Louw and Kurt-Lee Arendse starred for the Herd in round 3 of the URC, and along with the likes of the up-and-coming Cameron Hanekom and Canan Moodie, are expected to feature for the world champions next month.
Speaking post-match last Saturday at Loftus Versfeld, White addressed managing his Bok stars carefully for a crucial European trip while mindful of their potential involvement in South Africa’s upcoming tour.
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“It’s one of the difficult things because if they don’t play for three weeks and then have a two-week camp, they don’t play for five weeks and then they play Scotland,” he told reporters.
“I’m going to have to manage them and everyone understands that a guy like Ruan Nortje had four weeks off, and got called in [to the Boks’ Rugby Championship squad] late; a guy like Elrigh Louw had time off and got called in late.
“It’s not a necessity that they have to have leave now but what it is, is that between now and April we’ve got to give them the time that they need, in terms of if they’ve had three [weeks off] they need five, and if they had four [weeks off] they need four, and over Christmas there’s two. There’s a couple of games where I think we can rotate the squad and give them a couple of weeks off, and that’s all dependent on injuries obviously.
“We need to build momentum, we need to get players playing; it’s an interesting debate, and the other day I asked: which [Bok] squad is going on tour? Is it the same squad, is it a new squad? And I can’t rotate a guy… just an example, let’s use Elrigh and Cameron: which one is touring? And if I leave one [out] and he doesn’t tour then I’ve basically wasted an opportunity to play a guy for three weeks on tour.
“It’s not an attack on anybody; I’m going to make sure that we give them enough time off between now and April. I’ve got certain injuries that will be back in a couple weeks time and then I can rotate. But I’m going to build the team as much as we can.”
The Bulls’ upcoming sojourn, and the Bok end-of-year jaunt, is followed by another URC away clash against Connacht before a date with Saracens in England.
MORE: Moodie ‘on the fast track’ to Bok 13
“There is a meeting this week I think, between [Bulls CEO] Edgar [Rathbone] and SA Rugby on what is the plan going forward, and I’m sure then I will get a feeling on what we need to do and what contingency plan we can accommodate with,” White said.
“One of the things that’s important to understand is that the Bulls have got a three-week tour, and then there’s a Bok tour, and then we go on tour to play Connacht away and then Saracens away in the first round of the Champions Cup.
“If I’m really unfair on a player, he could be away for 11 weeks and that’s also not fair on a rugby player who has a young family – Gerhard’s got a young baby who’s one years old, Marco’s got a young baby who’s one years old, some guys are just newly married.
“So I’m going to have to find a way to get a win-win, but I will say that every player at the Bulls knows he doesn’t want to just manage himself for Test rugby, he wants to manage himself for the Bulls and makes sure he gives himself every opportunity to do well for the Bulls.”
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
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