We take a look at some of the news filtering through from the Bulls in their preparations for this year’s Super Rugby Season.

Lanky flanker Jaques du Plessis might get the nod at No 4 lock in the injury absense of Flip van der Merwe during the first stages of Super Rugby. Competing against him for the No 4 spot are youngsters Nico Janse van Rensburg and Irné Herbst.

Meanwhile former Blue Bulls and Springbok captain, Wynand Claassen, who is also the chairman of the Bulls’ ex-players union, wants the Bulls to employ a much more enterprising style in 2015.

Trevor Nyakane, who has joined the Bulls for the 2015 season from the Cheetahs, says he has been inundated with calls from his fellow-Bulls mates to come up with a new dance routine, when the Bulls score tries in 2015. He was known for his jubilant dance moves at the Cheetahs in 2014, but the question is whether he can dance the blue tune this year.

The only real players of consequence, bar of course the longer term injury to Flip van der Merwe, who are not fully into the swing of things yet and who will miss the excursion to Polokwane, are Adriaan Strauss and Handré Pollard, but their injuries appear to be on the light side, and it is highly unlikely that they will not be fit and ready to play in the season’s opener for the Bulls.

No 4 Lock:

Jacques du Plessis

The freak injury that has ruled out Springbok Flip van der Merwe, has opened the door for a few youngsters to step onto the Super Rugby stage.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, said his team up their pre-season preparations, said they will back the youngsters to fill the void left when Van der Merwe tore a pectoral muscle while working out in the gymnasium late last year.

Van der Merwe, who turns 30 in June and has 35 Test caps, had recovered from knee surgery that sidelined him for most of 2014 when the accident happened.

Ludeke admitted that the injury is a loss, as the veteran lock is a “key member” of their team, both in terms of his leadership and experience.

However, it now opens up an opportunity for other players.

Top of the list to wear the No 4 jersey is 21-year-old Jacques du Plessis, who featured on the flank throughout 2014. He is followed closely by 20-year-old Nico Janse van Rensburg, who played for the South African Under-20 team last year, and Irné Herbst, 21, who featured for the Baby Boks in 2013.

“It is a golden opportunity for Jacques du Plessis, especially in the warm-up games, to show what he can offer us at No 4,” Ludeke said.

“He’s always been an option for us in that position,” the coach said, adding: “Last year we had so many injuries among our loose forwards that he did duty for us at No 7 throughout the season.

“Then Nico Janse van Rensburg, who played one or two Super Rugby games off the bench and the whole Currie Cup competition as a replacement.

“He can develop into a good No 4.

“Also there is Irné Herbst, who is coming through our junior ranks.

“We do have options and we will back the system and the young guys who are coming through. We have all the confidence that our recruiting and junior systems will get us through.”

Ludeke also confirmed that Springbok hooker Adriaan Strauss, one of several high-profile recruits in the off-season, is struggling with a calf strain and will be rested for his side’s pre-season match against the Cheetahs in Polokwane next Saturday 25 January.

The injury is “not serious” and Strauss is expected to return to action in early February, the week before their opening league match against the Stormers in Pretoria.

Bok flyhalf Handré Pollard will also not be in action in Polokwane, as he is recovering from a sprained foot.

The news is much better on other injured players – with hookers Callie Visagie and Jaco Visagie, lock Grant Hatting, prop Marcel van der Merwe, loose forwards Pierre Spies and Arno Botha, fullback Jurgen Visser, as well as midfielders Dries Swanepoel and Burger Odendaal all having returned to training this week.

“We had a few guys we’ve nursed through the off-season, but now in the second week of the year we see all the guys coming back,” Ludeke said.

Wynand Claassen wants more enterprising play:

Wynand Claassen

Former Springbok and Blue Bulls captain Wynand Claassen has urged the men from Pretoria to start employing a more enterprising game style.

The Bulls’ form has dipped over the last few seasons, with their last major trophy coming back in 2010, when they won Super Rugby.

The Bulls are the most successful South African franchise with three Super Rugby titles, but have been reluctant to move with the times, still opting for a predominantly kick-oriented game plan.

Their recent run of poor form has also seen spectator numbers dwindle, with the union’s annual report for 2014 showing a 34% dip in attendance figures from 2013 to 2014.

Claassen, who is also the chairperson of the Bulls’ ex-players union, said winning rugby will be the only way for them to up their attendance figures in 2015.

“This year, the team will not only be under pressure to win, but also to play more enterprising rugby,” Claassen said. “The Bulls will have to show progress this season. The Super Rugby squad looks good on paper, but it’s what happens on the grass that matters.”

Trevor and the dance:

Trevor Nyakane

Meanwhile SuperSport reports that Loftus Versfeld will be dancing to a different tune if new Vodacom Bulls recruit Trevor Nyakane gets his way.

The Springbok prop, who has been training with his new teammates in the Pretoria heat for the last week, has been gearing up for a new surprise dance move when the Bulls score a try this season.

Many will remember Nyakane’s signature move with then Toyota Cheetahs teammate Raymond Rhule in last year’s competition after the burly prop scored, and the delight of the crowd (and SuperSport in-studio panel) thereafter to the dance moves.

The big smiling prop laughed deeply when asked about the move, revealing he has been “harassed” by his teammates to come up with a new one that they all want to learn.

“That’s been the question I’ve been hearing from most of my teammates,” Nyakane laughed when quizzed.

“And it is quite amazing their response – the guys like the dance and they have been telling me we need to work on something. Hopefully when the time comes and I get over the whitewash I’ll be able to produce something to make people have a good time.”

There are no more hints at exactly what the dance move entails, just that the excitement is there, and the Bulls want to score as many tries as possible to perfect their dances.

It has surprised Nyakane, especially as it is many of his Bok teammates who have been prodding him along to design something new.

Still he hasn’t started giving dancing lessons just yet.

“It’s a bit too early but guys like Jan Serfontein, Hougi (Francois Hougaard) and Jesse (Kriel) are on my case every day. They’re like ‘we need to work on a dance when we score a try’. For me it will be amazing to see if the guys are going to join me or if I will be dancing alone. So far though, it seems promising…”

The big prop admits Pretoria is a bit of a shift from his days in Bloem – mainly as “I could get from anywhere to the stadium in 10 or 15 minutes” while the traffic has been something he has had to negotiate as well.

“I’m happy to be here at this point in time. Things have been going well. It is a different type of training but these are the things that a rugby player needs to adjust to. I’m embracing every moment and loving it here in Pretoria so far.”

And while his recall to the Bok squad at the end of the year signalled all was forgiven for his tardiness – something that saw him dropped from the squad a year earlier – he now has a hunger to experience his first World Cup later this year and has set his sights on England 2015, even though his visit in November with the Boks was not as successful as the team had hoped.

“It was a difficult tour for us when we went up there but at times you need things like that to happen for you to realise you’re not on top of the world. Hopefully we will learn our lessons and it will bring us closer together as a team. For me personally it was a rollercoaster of a year, especially as I didn’t play that much. It was a privilege to get a chance to play at the Boks again, but at the end of the day I worked hard and did what I had to do, and Heyneke Meyer gave me the chance again. Now hopefully I can take that further and get a chance to go and play in the World Cup.”

Right now Nyakane is a happy man, closer to his home and loved ones, he has been enjoying himself.

Dancing his way through the training sessions, the big Bok is looking to settle into his new blue jersey as soon as possible.

And if he can get Loftus to get up and dance in the process, all the better.

Pre-season games:

• 24 January: Bulls vs Cheetahs in Polokwane
• 31 January: Blue Bulls XV vs Saracens in London

The Vodacom Bulls kick off their Su[per Rugby season against DHL Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday 14 February 2015.