The Bulls lost their United Rugby Championship (URC) derby against the Stormers but the disappointment of defeat should not have outweighed the positivity around the coup announced earlier in the day.
Handrè Pollard returning home is not just a major win for Jake White’s Bulls but also by extension the franchise level of rugby in SA.
Having Pollard back in the light blue jersey will create much-needed narrative and connection with the Springboks, in the sense that Pollard playing for a local URC team will make it more possible to compare his form with the other players competing for the Bok No 10 jersey.
Games between the Bulls and Stormers are already big sellers, but a north/south derby with Pollard v Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as a talking point would attract even more eyes. Assuming Feinberg-Mngomezulu can shake off his tendency to be injured, that is already one mouthwatering matchup to look forward to next season.
From what we are understanding, if White has his way we may have more of those in other positions, with another former Bulls Bok in Jan Serfontein understood to be preparing to put pen to paper.
Serfontein qualifies as the unluckiest player in the Rassie Erasmus era, as during Allister Coetzee’s ill-fated reign as Bok coach he was the one standout player but hasn’t featured since then.
That might be partly explainable by the players who have done well in his absence. Damian de Allende is rated by many as the best inside centre in world rugby, and André Esterhuizen is not far behind.
Sharks coach John Plumtree helped Esterhuizen’s Bok chances when he lured him home. Being regularly on show locally pushes you into the forefront of the selection conversation. That should be the case with Serfontein too.
Esterhuizen’s return was arguably the biggest contracting coup pulled off by the Sharks since Plumtree came in and took greater control of the contracting process. The big centre’s absence through injury over the past two months partially explains the inconsistency that was highlighted by the Durban side’s shock capitulation to the Lions.
Plumtree also brought back Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch and Jason Jenkins while astute buys in the form of Jordan Hendrikse and the younger Tshituka brother, Emmanuel, were made from the Lions. Though they lost to the Stormers, White was right when he said it wasn’t a train smash for the Bulls. His team is still challenging strongly for a top two finish and they have a good run of home games to come.
The Stormers game was always going to be a lottery in the inclement conditions. The Stormers won the aerial battle and thus won the match.
It is the two games the Bulls lost in the league to understrength Sharks teams that the Bulls should really be kicking themselves for.
Like the Sharks, the Bulls have contracted wisely, with White identifying the problem areas and then buying players in to provide a solution. The most notable buy was Wilco Louw, a former Stormers player who arrived in Pretoria via Harlequins and has transformed a vulnerable Bulls scrum unit into a dominant one.
The Stormers’ win at Loftus was an important one and should be celebrated. They are still languishing but given the home run they finish the season with, they now have a chance to lift themselves to fifth or sixth. In which case they are likely to play a local derby quarterfinal against the Bulls or Sharks.
That is what their coach John Dobson will be hoping for, but it would still be remiss of the Stormers management if they did not own up to the fact that they ending outside the top four is a failure for a team representing the rugby rich Cape region.
The full houses that attended the derbies featuring the Sharks and Bulls was an indicator of the drawing power of the Stormers. There are injuries, but the other franchises have injury problems too yet have deeper squads because of their financial clout.
The Stormers should be joining the Bulls and Sharks in bringing big name players home but instead the contracting speculation usually focuses on who is leaving or retiring. Ask why that is and you will be told the Bulls and Sharks have more money to buy in talent. But that doesn’t really cut it for those of us who remember that the American investors who have made the Sharks the richest local franchise had the Cape as their first choice.
Using a round ball analogy, Brighton supporters are rightly enthused when their team finishes just above mid-table in the Premier League. That is because the team represents Brighton, which isn’t a big centre like Manchester or Liverpool. They have a ceiling of expectation.
There shouldn’t be a ceiling in Cape Town, which is the rugby equivalent of Manchester or Liverpool. The Cape Town franchise should have the buying power to match that of the Bulls and Sharks and if they don’t they risk being left behind by their local rivals.
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