GBS, Wynie Strydom & Snorrie in Soweto

Change isn’t a word that comes easily at Loftus Versfeld but a big changing of the guard is set to be announced on Wednesday as long standing team manager Wynie Strydom stands down.

SuperSport

Strydom will continue his role until the end of the year, but will go into retirement after a long, rich history with the Bulls and is set to be replaced as team manager by former Springbok Tim Dlulane.

Strydom, a former Bulls scrumhalf in his heyday, whose trademark moustache and red hair was a favourite for television cameras in any tense Bulls game as they focused on his place on the substitutes bench in every game at every crucial decision, joined the Bulls way back in 1992, and has been the team manager for the past 17 years.

He has endured the famous dry period in Bulls history, where they didn’t win a Currie Cup for seven years, and the dark era of being Super Rugby bottom dwellers, but was also there when the Blue Bulls surprised a very strong Western Province side to win the Absa Currie Cup in 1998.

He also served as team manager for now-Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s successful run of four Currie Cup titles, and was the logistics man for the three Vodacom Super Rugby titles that the Bulls have enjoyed in their history.

More than that, he has been a consummate servant to the union and those who know him well will remember his chirpy voice-mails and always positive utterings about the Bulls chances of success.

“I was the first fulltime team manager in the professional era,” he told in a recent interview on Kyknet’s Kwela, “I’ve been very happy that I’ve survived to be with different coaches. The continuity that a team manager can bring, helps any new coach settle in and it is important to continue the policies and the traditions of the team and to take it forward.”

“I haven’t missed one game since 1997 where the Currie Cup team or the Super Rugby team has played – that includes friendlies and tour games. It makes around 500 games and around 20 tours to Australia and New Zealand that were great to be on.

Dlulane will have big shoes to fill then, but he is more than capable of doing so after serving as the Junior team manager for the past few years as well as the team manager for the Vodacom Cup side.

The Kokstad-born flanker came to prominence in the early 2000s, and made his test debut against Wales in Cardiff as a reserve in 2004, playing exceptionally in a short career which was prematurely ended by injury.

After retiring from the game, Dlulane has been working hard behind the scenes with the junior teams and has set a high standard in his job, making him the natural successor to Strydom.

The Bulls could well have looked outside the union, but to promote Dlulane would be the right thing to do and ensure continuity in a position which gets little glory, but is extremely important to the team.

The announcement is set for lunchtime on Wednesday.