The Vodacom Bulls on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Victor Matfield as their new Forwards and Attack Coach for the 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby season, while also naming Derick Hougaard as a skills and kicking coach and Handrè Pollard as part of their extended playing squad for the new season.
Official Blue Bulls Media Release
Former Vodacom Bulls captain Matfield was promoted from a consulting role into a permanent position, former Springbok pivot Hougaard comes into the Vodacom Blue Bulls coaching structures for the first time and school boy star Pollard will be amongst the 53 players that will prepare for the 2013 season.
The Bulls also announced numerous promotions amongst their coaching squad, confirming the return of Japan-based Wynand Olivier and the inclusion of two loan players.
The squad will include:
•Two MTN Lions players, Lionel Mapoe and Callie Visagie, on loan
•New signings Grant Hattingh and Paul Willemse, who played Super Rugby for the MTN Lions in 2012 and Marcel van der Merwe (Toyota Cheetahs)
•19 Springboks on the roster, including Wynand Olivier, who will return from Japan
•IRB JWC-winning Junior Springboks Wiaan Liebenberg, Shaun Adendorff, Marvin Orie, William Small-Smith and Jan Serfontein, alongside Pollard and four other schoolboy stars.
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke also confirmed his new coaching assistants, which saw the promotion of various coaches from within the Bulls structures.
Vodacom Blue Bulls Currie Cup head coach, Pine Pienaar, will be the new defense coach, while Andrè Volsteedt has been promoted as Head of Strength and Conditioning.
Nollis Marais, who coached the Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-21’s to a second consecutive Absa Provincial Championship title in 2012 and won the Varsity Cup with Tukkies earlier this year, has been promoted to Vodacom Cup Head Coach and will continue with the Under-21’s and Tuks in 2013.
Xander Janse van Rensburg will be the new High Performance Manager, with numerous other appointments in the junior structures confirmed, amongst them Hougaard as junior kicking and skills consultant.
Ludeke expressed his excitement ahead of the new season.
“Experience has taught us that the hard work in pre-season is vital for a successful campaign. We could only measure the effects on the prolonged 2012 Super Rugby season now and will adjust our planning and training schedules accordingly. I am excited to work with the coaches in their new roles and believe we have the right mix of personalities, skills and expertise to make 2013 a success,” Ludeke said.
“Someone like Victor has so much experience to give back to our players and I am very excited to work with one of the sharpest rugby minds in the business.”
Ludeke confirmed the return of Wynand Olivier, one of only two centurions in the squad (Mornè Steyn the other).
“He will join us as soon as his club commitments end in Japan. His record at the Vodacom Bulls speaks volumes and Wynand will be an important player for us next year.”
The Vodacom Bulls wider training group roster for 2013 is:
Akona Ndungane*, Arno Botha*, Basil Short, Bjorn Basson*, Bongi Mbonambi, Callie Visagie, Chiliboy Ralepelle*, Clayton Blommetjies, Corne Cooper (schoolboy), Cornell Hess, Dawie Steyn, Daniel Kriel (schoolboy), Dean Greyling*, Deon Stegmann*, Dewald Potgieter*, Flip van der Merwe*, Francois Hougaard*, Francois Venter, Frik Kirsten, Grant Hattingh, Handrè Pollard (schoolboy), Hencus van Wyk, Jan Serfontein, Jano Vermaak*, Jacques Potgieter*, Jacques du Plessis, Jean Cook, Jesse Kriel (schoolboy), JJ Engelbrecht*, Juandrè Kruger*, Jürgen Visser, Juan Schoeman, Lionel Mapoe*, Lohan Jacobs, Louis Fouchè, Marcel van der Merwe, Marvin Orie, Mike Williams, Mornè Mellett, Mornè Steyn*, Paul Willemse, Pierre Spies*, Rohan Janse van Rensburg (schoolboy), Ruan Snyman, Rudy Paige, Sampie Mastriet, Schalk van Heerden, Shaun Adendorff, Tiaan Schoeman, Tony Jantjies, Travis Ismaiel, Ulrich Beyers, Werner Kruger*, Wiaan Liebenberg, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Willie Wepener, William Small-Smith, Wynand Olivier*, Zane Kirchner*
*denotes Springboks
The promotions will see the following coaches in new roles:
Victor Matfield – Super Rugby and Currie Cup Forward and Attack Coach
Pine Pienaar – Super Rugby Defence Coach
Wessel Roux – Scrum coach (All), Forwards coach Under-19
Andrè Volsteedt – Head Coach: Strength and Conditioning
John-William Meyer – Super Rugby and Currie Cup Technical Advisor
Xander Janse van Rensburg – High Performance Manager
Nollis Marais – Vodacom Cup Head Coach, Under-21; Tuks Varsity Cup Head Coach
Denzil Frans – Vodacom Cup and Under-21 Forward Coach
David Manuel – Under-21 and Vodacom Cup Backline Coach
Shaun du Toit – Under-21 and Vodacom Cup Strength and Conditioning Coach
Divan Strydom – Under-21 and Vodacom Cup Technical Advisor
Hendrè Marnitz – Under 19 Backline Coach and Junior Defence Coach
Hayden Groepes – Under-19 Technical Advisor
Derick Hougaard – Junior Kicking and Skills Consultant
Nicki de Villiers – Nutritionist Consultant
Werner de Beer – Coordinator: Schools, Amateur Rugby and High Performance Activities
Henri-Charl Terblanche – Strength and Conditioning Coach: Under-19’s, High Performance and Schools
Dr Jannie Botha – Life Skills, Mental Coach and Counsellor
Hier is my span uit die groep:
Zane
Mapoe
Jan
WO
Basson
MS
Hougaard
Spies
Arno
Dewald
Juandre
Flip
Werner
Chili
Marcel
Dean
Frik
Willie
Willemse
Steggies/JP
Jano
Pollard
Beyers
Sien nie Lionel Cronje se naam nie, vir wie speel hy volgende jaar ?
Bulls group looks strong…
Lineouts will be awesome, hope Wessel can give good direction in the scrums and sorts some errors out at loosehead and tighthead.
Locks look good, loosies looking good… scrumhalves good, flyhalves well covered, hope Pollard comes through well.
Centres looking just fine and for once the No 13 centre problem might be sorted, wings look very good and fullbacks are just fine.
Hope the coaches can now make a few tweaks to move away from relying on kick and chase to more ball-in-hand, value the breakdowns and getting fast ball to the backline.
The Bulls have gained a good player from the Sharks,not on their list though,
Piet Lindeque played 13 and 14 for the Sharks jumiors right through into the VC team, he has gone to tukkies for do his degree, One will probably see him joining the BB’s VC team, he is 21
News out of England is Lambie and JDJ to start this weekend it seems,
Good to see Victor being used. Excellent in the lineouts and no doubt he will be a very good coach there and also with the forwards. Not sure about attack coach though? Where is the Bulls backline coach?
Some excellent players there. Serfontein, Ardendorff and Small Smith were top class in the jwc this year.
5 @ Puma:
Victor should be good… after all the rumour was that Barney Smit and Victor actually coached the Bokke under Snorrie… hehehe
@ Puma:
Hiyas Pooms
7 @ Sharks_forever:
Howzit bro,
See CJ probably injured, so no worries there Cilliers a better player anyhow. Also read that Mvovo went down in training yesterday with his leg strapped. Hope he gets a chance though, but if injured don’t play him. As that would be both our Sharks wings injured. Somehow think if he is not injured Meyer will go with Mvovo otherwise it will be Jaco.
6 @ grootblousmile:
hehe. I was actually going to type that up there, he has coached at this level before…….
We should always use our rugby brains here, too many get lost to overseas. Will we see Victor with the Boks? I think we could. Just not as attack coach, think we really have to have a separate coach for that. Anyhow he was brilliant for Boks in the lineout and will be for Bulls and probably Boks as well.
Where is the Bulls backline coach?
Ek is bly Victor is daar. Sal dalk bietjie meer rigting gee aan die span.
Sien daar is nou ook ‘n mental coach.
puma @ 9
they dont need one!!
11: gedoriewaar, lewe jy nog ? uiteindelik wakker geword van die CB babbalas ? 😉
11 @ ashley:
Victor can be backline coach too… he was fine playing centre sometimes too… hahaha
Slaptjips nog steeds die agterlyn-afrigter, die lys is van nuwe afrigters of wat bevordering gekry het.
4: ook maar goed so, die land kan nie nog opstande in die kaap en natal bekostig nie.
bdb @ 15
lag my klaar
#12
nee wat. nou eers oor die skok gekom, lol
@ ashley:
Hey Kaapse klong, hoe lyk dinge met die babbalasbrigade???
Springboks kicking coach Louis Koen says he has the utmost faith that Pat Lambie will develop into a world class Test flyhalf but stressed it is critical that he settles in the position in Super Rugby.
Lambie has been used at fullback flyhalf and inside centre at the Durban franchise and himself said a fortnight ago that he isn’t prepared to ‘put all my eggs in one basket just yet’ in a positional sense. However, the time is nearing when the 22-year-old and his coaches will have to be decisive in this regard.
Certainly it is at pivot where he has looked most comfortable and most dangerous. He was initially seen predominantly as a fullback for the Springboks, but has since convinced Heyneke Meyer of his potential as a flyhalf. Koen believes it is where he is best suited and hopes the Sharks make the decision to settle him there.
‘I believe it is absolutely imperative that he plays at flyhalf for the Sharks next year and vital for South African rugby. I can’t speak for John Plumtree [Sharks head coach] but I believe the more he plays there the more he’ll blossom,’ Koen said.
Lambie appears competent in most of the key performance areas of a Test flyhalf but has struggled to get his tactical kicking to a point where it meets the expectations of the coaching staff. Koen said he isn’t overly concerned about this, explaining that refinement will come with more game time.
I’ve got a lot of confidence in Pat Lambie. He has everything you look for in a flyhalf. In the first half against Scotland you could already see an improvement in his tactical game. He isn’t there yet, but you have to take into account that he has played a lot of his rugby at fullback. Test rugby also offers you less space and time and the ball comes out slower, which presents unique challenges. But I can only see a great future for him,’ Koen said.
The former Springboks flyhalf, however, acknowledged that their kicking game has been inconsistent, highlighting a lack of protection for scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar as being central to this. He said this has been an area of focus and hoped that better ball protection would offer Pienaar the time to set and execute better kicks.
Defence coach John McFarland offered greater insight into why he believed their preferred method hasn’t yielded the results they’ve sought.
‘At the start of the year the refs were very hard on the opposition blocking our kick chasers. Now those chasers are like the ball in pin-ball machines, which has compromised our chase. That’s the reason we’re not as effective as we’d like to be,’ he said.
The Springboks won’t veer from their territory-based approach at Twickenham against England, with Koen explaining that the problems they’ve encountered are not attributable to the decision to kick but the execution thereof.
‘We were good in the first half against Scotland with our kicks. Out of the 14 we did, we had 12 positive outcomes. But of the 10 we made in the second there were only two positive outcomes. So certainly a game of two halves kicking-wise,’ he said.
‘I felt we rushed a couple of times when we kicked. The leadership at 9,10,12 will take more responsibility there against England. It was a combination of inexperience and lack of communication that forced us to panic. Although I though we picked the right time to kick, we didn’t execute well enough. The positive that came out of there was that we felt it was the first time the guys were making the right decisions as to when to run and when to kick. We can build on that.
‘This week against Scotland was one of the few Test matches that we kicked more than the opposition. Fortunately stats show that you are rewarded for playing in the right areas and teams that are carrying the ball less are winning games. That isn’t something I’m excited about but it is the reality. The key is when we kick, it has to be the right decision to do so and then the execution must be spot on.’
sharky @ 17
huh-uh, die babelas is klaar die oomblik toe die geld opgeraak het, lol
2 @ GBS, What on earth have you bully boys done with young Dries Swanepoel?
By the way, clarity on Lionel Cronje… he has been released to the Lions
20 @ Cheetah4eva:
No idea… who is Dries, when he’s awake anyway?
#1 @ Bidibidi,
Pretty much as expected, what about Willemse at 4 instead of yellow-card Flip?
Zane/Visser/Kriel
Mapoe/Ndugane/Ismaiel
Jan Serfontein/Engelbrecht/Beyers/Small-Smith
WO/Venter or vice versa
Basson/Mastriet
MS/Fouche/Pollard
Hougaard/Vermaak/Jacobs
Arno Botha/Spies
Liebenberg/Potgieter
Adendorff/Stegmann
Juandre/Steenkamp
Flip/Willemse
Werner/Kirsten
Chili/Mbonambi
Marcel/Greyling
#22 @ GBS,
Oh Boy! You bully boys buy all our talent, and then you don’t even know who they are. Oh my word! Dries Swanepoel was Jan Serfontein’s centre partner. Seems another young un goes missing amongst the blue hordes!
24 @ Cheetah4eva:
Dries is not ready yet… hy pie nognie skuim nie…. hahaha
25 @GBS,
Then he will be right at home with the rest of the “melkbaarde” the Bools have invited to train. Besides you could always send him andSerfontein back, at least they will be running with the ball again, instead of chasing Steintjies up and unders! And with “Liefling ” back who knows how many balls are going to get past the fh channel?
Great to see such a strong looking outfit – all bodes well for a great SR campaign. Also very good to see some young past players getting involved. Very important for the future of coaching.
27 @ Just For Kicks:
How’s the rioting and strikes and damage caused?
You guys holding up alright?
Trust this to come just before you okes leave for Mud Island… you’ll be scarred for freegin life!
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