The Vodacom Bulls will be wary of the “giant-killing” Tafel Lager Griquas when the two sides square up in Kimberley for a Carling Currie Cup clash tomorrow afternoon.

Vodacom Bulls head coach, Gert Smal, will announce his match-day squad tomorrow for the 23 who will travel to the Northern Cape with the hope of bouncing back from their defeat to the Toyota Cheetahs a month ago.

Vodacom Bulls assistant coach, Edgar Marutlulle, has in his playing career faced the Tafel Lager Griquas on a few occasions, and is aware of the dangers that could be posed by the side, especially in their own backyard.

“The Tafel Lager Griquas are always a giant-killer side in this competition,” he said ahead of the clash.

“They are a side that is well-known for causing upsets. So that is why preparations this week have been on point – we have not wasted a minute being complaisant in any way. We’ve taken them on as opposition and given them a proper preparation for the game.”

A month of being out of action in a competition can be a long time, but the Vodacom Bulls have kept themselves busy since their fixture against the Toyota Cheetahs on February 2. The side played in a warm-up match against the Leopards, while some of the squad members were on tour with the Vodacom United Rugby Championship side in Italy.

“It’s been a month since our last game. Fortunately, we had a warm-up game last week against the Leopards while some of our guys were on tour with the Vodacom URC,” said Marutlulle.

“Those guys provided some good competition in the Vodacom URC together with the guys who were in the Leopards game. We are on par in our preparations and we expect a good performance on the weekend.”

The match between the two sides will kick off at 14h30 tomorrow.

Lizo Gqoboka is one of a few Vodacom Bulls players who have seamlessly juggled focus between the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Carling Currie Cup over the past few weeks.

If he is part of the Vodacom Bulls team that takes on the Tafel Lager Griquas in a Carling Currie Cup fixture this weekend, it will be the first time in his 10-year career that the 31-year-old Springbok prop gets to play the Northern Cape side in their own backyard in Kimberley.

“It’s going to be my first time playing down there,” said an excited Gqoboka ahead of the Vodacom Bulls’ travel to Kimberley this weekend.

“You know, in my whole career, I’ve never played in Kimberley, for some weird reason. There has always been something that came up whenever I’m about to play there.

“So, if I play this weekend, it will be my first time. For me, it’s exciting. People always talk about how tough it is to play there, and those are the type of games you want to test yourself – in different conditions.”

Despite not having tasted the experience of playing in Kimberley, Gqoboka is familiar with the opposition for the weekend.

The hard-working tighthead prop expects a tough challenge from the side from the Northern Cape.

“The one thing about the Tafel Lager Griquas has always been their physicality, and they always fight right up until the end. We expect exactly that on the weekend,” he said.

“We have seen that their set piece is quite strong. Their scrum has been one of the most dominant in the competition – we are aware of that, and we are excited about the challenge.

“The main thing will be that we will need to front up physically. They have grown as a team in terms of their balance between the set piece and they also play with intensity. Their kicking game is also very good. So, it’s a good challenge.

“You can never play for 60 minutes and think you are done because they fight until the end. We’ve seen them beating the so-called big team down in Kimberley, and also winning away. It speaks to the quality of players that they have and the quality of their coaches. It’s really going to be a good game with lots of excitement.”

Gqoboka is one of the Vodacom Bulls’ frontline players who has inter-changed between the Carling Currie Cup and Vodacom URC effortlessly so far this season, and the Bok front-rower is relishing the opportunity.

“For us at the Vodacom Bulls, it is not that difficult [to juggle between the two competitions]. We have seen guys doubling up – Morne Steyn, Bismarck du Plessis, myself, and others – we play Carling Currie Cup on a Wednesday and Vodacom URC on a Saturday. Because we have one squad everybody gets an opportunity for game time. If you are not playing in the Vodacom URC, you do play in the Carling Currie Cup,” he said.

The match between the Vodacom Bulls and Tafel Lager Griquas will kick off at 14h30 on Saturday, and it will be televised on SuperSport.

Vodacom Bulls’ Carling Currie Cup head coach, Gert Smal, will announce his team for the fixture on Friday.

 

 

The Vodacom Bulls have named the squad travelling to Parma, Italy, where they will take on Zebre Parma in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash on Friday

The squad left South Africa on Monday and is expected to arrive in Italy today, where they will continue their preparations for their first overseas match since last October.

Despite the side going into the match without the services of experienced flyhalf Morné Steyn, who will be serving the first of his three-match ban following a red card in the Vodacom Bulls’ previous fixture against the Cell C Sharks, the side from Pretoria has selected a strong squad.

 The touring squad is:

FORWARDS:
Lizo Gqoboka, Gerhard Steenekamp, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jacques van Rooyen, Robert Hunt, Bismarck du Plessis, Johan Grobbelaar, Joe van Zyl, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Marcell Coetzee, Arno Botha, Elrigh Louw, WJ Steenkamp, Reinhardt Ludwig.

BACKS:
Embrose Papier, Keagan Johannes, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Chris Smith, Juan Mostert, Harold Vorster, Lionel Mapoe, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Madosh Tambwe, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse.

The Vodacom Bulls are bracing themselves for a heated battle when they take on the Cell C Sharks in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

David Kriel will make a return to the side, starting at fullback, this weekend while Cornal Hendricks will also earn a starting berth on the right wing in the only changes to the backline in the starting XV.

Gerhard Steenekamp will be the only new face to the forwards pack that started against the Emirates Lions last week. He changes spots with Simphiwe Matanzima in a rotational switch, as the former makes his way to the bench.

The Vodacom Bulls are wary of the threat that will be a Springbok-laden Cell C Sharks side that will be looking to bounce back after suffering a defeat against the DHL Stormers last weekend.

“The Cell C Sharks are always a formidable opponent, and we will have to be at our best when we face a side that is so full of talent,” Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White.

“For us to face a team with the SA Rugby Player of the Year, Siya Kolisi is a challenge we should look forward to. Furthermore, it is also inspirations to be able to play a domestic derby against the captain of the national team who also collects all of these accolades for his performance on and off the field. It certainly is inspiring that we have players of his calibre who choose to remain and play for domestic franchises when he could easily take up a contract elsewhere.

“This will be a great opportunity for youngsters like Elrigh Louw to be able to go up against an inspirational character like Siya. Then you also have players like Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Bongi Mbonambi, and a host of others in that Cell C Sharks team whom our guys will want to measure themselves against in a premier competition like the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

“We can look forward to a thrilling game at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.”

The match will kick off at 17h05, and it will be televised on SuperSport.

 The Vodacom Bulls team is:

STARTERS (15-1): David Kriel (Betway Centurion), Cornal Hendricks (Northam Rhinos), Lionel Mapoe (Pretoria), Harold Vorster (Northam Rhinos), Madosh Tambwe (Pretoria), Morne Steyn (Tuine), Zak Burger (Tuine); Elrigh Louw (UP Tuks), Arno Botha (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Marcell Coetzee (CAPT, ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Ruan Nortje (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Walt Steenkamp (Betway Centurion), Jacques van Rooyen (Tuine), Johan Grobbelaar (UP Tuks), Gerhard Steenekamp (ABE Midas Naka Bulle).

Replacements (16-23): Bismarck du Plessis (Betway Centurion), Simphiwe Matanzima (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Robert Hunt (Harlequins), Janko Swanepoel (Pretoria), Muller Uys (UP Tuks), Embrose Papier (UP Tuks), Chris Smith (Harlequins), Canan Moodie (Pretoria).

 

For a young rugby star, the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and the peak of social media have combined to create a potent opportunity of catching the right people’s attention at the right time in their careers, and which could open the door to bigger things.

“The Vodacom United Rugby Championship and social media are coming together perfectly. As a young player, if you put in a great performance or a Player of the Match performance on the weekend, you can be certain people are looking and will be talking about you on Monday. And the right people will be noticing,” says Bob Skinstad.

Skinstad was speaking on the back of another entertaining weekend of rugby in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship that has positioned itself as the platform for the next generation of international rugby stars to take their careers to the next level.

With a legacy in the game dating back to 1996, Vodacom has supported rugby as it transitioned from the amateur to professional era, and then from pre-social media to the digital media revolution now driving the game forward. Their deep investment into the game includes the creation of bespoke rugby content for their digital platforms, showcasing even further the depth of talent in South Africa.

And none more so than in the case of Vodacom Bulls winger Madosh Tambwe, who produced another strong Player of the Match performance in their 21-13 victory over the Emirates Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

“He was the standout player for me in that game. He did start by giving away a penalty, but then he just powered through the rest of that match. Madosh is big, strong, and fast. He’s finishing well and making big tackles, and isn’t making too many huge defensive errors.” says Skinstad.

On a weekend of back-to-back rugby up north and where Skinstad says he was pleased to see a host of South Africans stand out, the former Springbok skipper says this was a weekend where the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in particular delivered on its promise to keep things interesting. Ulster gave the South African teams some hope of climbing the log with their 32-12 win against Connacht, and the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers did exactly what they needed to do to just secure the points.

“From a personal point of view, it’s nice for me to see the Stormers leading the way for the South African teams. Their 20-10 victory over the Sharks was a bit of an arm-wrestle, but that happens when two teams know each other so well. But what was pleasing for me, and I think it will be the same for John Dobson, is that the Stormers have until now scored 58% of their points in the first half, and in this match, it was great to see them shift that around and be dominant in the second half as well. And the chip-and-chase try by Seabelo Senatla before halftime was brilliant. Overall, I think the DHL Stormers did a much better job of their exits from the danger zones. As for the Jukskei derby, it was typical 10-man rugby from the Bulls but it got them the points they needed, and with Morné Steyn again providing such consistency with his kicking.”

Looking ahead, Skinstad sees the DHL Stormers in the best position of all the South African teams as the international leg of the competition edges closer for them.

“I think they’ll feel they can make a real run of it and I’m looking forward to when they travel. Sure, they’re still in the bottom half of the table. But they have games in hand. If they win their remaining games, they’ll overtake Connacht on the log. As it stands they’ve got two matches in hand and are only two points behind Connacht.”