Coetzee out as wounded Bulls turn to face Munster

14/04/2024 07:59

Following the Champions Cup exit to Northampton Saints, the Vodacom Bulls are racing home to take on Munster, but they’ll battle the URC defending champions without captain Marcell Coetzee.

In the aftermath of the Champions Cup quarter-final defeat at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday night, White opted not to divulge the injury status of a group of front-line players who had remained in Pretoria, including Coetzee, flank Marco van Staden and World Cup-winning backs Willie le Roux, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie.

During the week leading up to Saturday’s match, White confirmed that many of these players could not travel to England based on medical advice.

The Bulls are set to host Munster this week and, according to Sunday newspaper Rapport, Coetzee’s knee injury will not only keep him out of this match but also the remainder of the campaign.

However, when probed on the situation, White said he preferred to keep his cards close to his chest.

“I have guys who have gone in for operations this week. I’m not going to tell you who is injured or who can’t play next week,” White said.

“The reality is that this is a competitive industry. I’m not going to tell you who can or can’t play against Munster. As soon as I tell you I’ve got 12 injuries and five might not play next week… nobody does that. I can’t go onto the Northampton website and find out how many guys got injured last week.

“It’s not the way you should do it, tell people a week out who can and can’t play. Any team will appreciate that you try and keep your selection as close as possible. Things can change during the week. I would rather find out when I get back who has recovered, who has gone in for operations and how those look.

“There are a lot of guys who I am considering playing because I don’t know how many of the guys I left behind are going to be ready after just a week of rehab.”

Looking at the quarter-final defeat itself, White said that it would be an important learning point for the younger players in the team.

However, White also took the opportunity to once again call for the Springboks to change their overseas-based player policy, to force the stars playing in Europe and Japan to return to South Africa.

“We are loving this competition, but my Christmas wish is to get all the guys that play abroad to come back and play for the South African franchises. Tyrone Green was man of the match in the Harlequins game. How many South African guys are playing in Japan, France and England?

“If we can bring those guys back… selfishly as a franchise coach, that’s what I want. I would like to run out here with RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Hanro Leibenberg, Handre Pollard, Jesse Kriel. Those are just the Bulls players who left us.

“We also don’t have the luxury of signing Kiwis, Fijians or Tongans, that the European market has.

“I read this week that England said if you go overseas, you don’t play for England. Ireland say if you play somewhere else, you don’t play for Ireland. The same with New Zealand and the All Blacks,” White added.

“We are the only country that allows it. Because we’ve won the World Cup, it seems to be the model everyone wants to follow. I’m not so sure about that.

“Wearing my provincial hat, I’m not a convert of allowing people to play abroad and still play Test rugby for your country.”

Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images

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