Nollis Marais

Positive news for a change from the Vodacom Blue Bulls, as Nollis Marais, the new Head Coach for the Currie Cup season gets into gear.

He promises change and that the Blue Bulls will play in a system which suits their player strenghts and it looks like one of the 1st key things he has achieved is to convince all the key youngsters left at the Union since the recent exodus (before his appointment), have decided to stay and sign on to help ressurrect the proud Union.

The 2nd immediate positive is that former Bulls and Springbok hooker, Gary Botha has been signed as Technical Forwards Consultant with the Blue Bulls.

The 3rd aspect of positive and upbuilding news is that the vibe in the newly released Currie Cup squad is positive and excited… and eager.

The 4th aspect, something I have wanted to hear for a very, very long time… and that is that Nollis Marais will give special attention to skills training. It has been something severely lacking in both the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls in Super Rugby and it’s been permitted to rot in the background for far too long during Frans Ludeke’s tenure, and lately shaky reign. It is music to my ears and should be music to the ears of most South Africans, as skills is one critical aspect where we feel South Africa is lacking behind Australia and New Zealand… well specially New Zealand!

Then there is the pleasant news that it appears that Francois Hougaard, who would have left for Japan prior to the advent of the Currie Cup, will now stay at the Blue Bulls, in an attempt to shine in the Currie Cup, and thus maybe elevate his chances of re-entering the Springbok Squad.

Marais promises change:

Newly appointed Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais has assured supporters they can expect a new approach from the Pretoria side in this year’s Currie Cup competition, starting on 8 August.

Marais has been appointed in the head coach position for this year’s competition following the departure of Frans Ludeke.

While the Bulls had been preaching a shift to a more expansive style during this year’s Super Rugby, there was little evidence to support this.

Marais indicated the Bulls will be looking to gravitate towards the tryline more than has become the norm in Pretoria.

“We want to have an approach that complements the players, and that is something we will look at seriously,” Marais said on Tuesday.

“There will definitely be change, there might be a few headaches in the beginning but the players are buying into it.

“It is something new for them and obviously we didn’t throw everything out, we will just make a few adjustments that we believe will complement the players.”

Marais said a high premium would be placed on skills training to get the players to a level that would enable them to play a more expansive style of rugby.

“Improving the skill-sets is a huge focus for us at the moment. We had discussions with all the players and we know what is lacking are the skills,” Marais said.

“The last few days we’ve been working hard on that and it is something we are very serious about.”

It also emerged that Francois Hougaard, who was not included in the Springbok squad for The Rugby Championship, would not exercise his option to play for a Japanese club during the Currie Cup competition.

Hougaard’s decision was likely fuelled by the Springbok snub and the hope of swaying the selectors with good performances during the domestic competition.

With Paige’s call-up to the national side and Piet van Zyl’s long-term injury layoff, Hougaard could finally receive some game time at scrumhalf after he was used to great effect on the wing during the Super Rugby competition.

Newly appointed Blue Bulls backline coach David Manual said he had been impressed by what he had seen from the players in their 1st field session on Monday.

“We did an attacking preview yesterday and there is so much skill and ability in this team,” Manuel said.

“We have to match the way we play with the personnel that we have and the personnel we have has a huge capacity in terms of their skill set.

“On the field yesterday I was amazed by the things the players can do with the ball in hand, and that makes me excited as a coach.”

(Sport24)

Gary Botha

Gary Botha gets a coaching role:

Former Springbok and Bulls hooker Gary Botha has been appointed in a coaching capacity by his former team.

Botha, 33, will join the Bulls for this year’s Currie Cup as Technical Forwards Consultant, the Blue Bulls Company announced on Tuesday.

Gary Botha played 12 Tests for the Springboks between 2005 and 2007.

Blue Bulls Management team (excluding main coaches):

• Gary Botha (Forwards Technical Consultant)
• John-William Meyer (Technical Consultant)
• Andre Volsteedt (Strenght and Conditioning)
• Stephen Plummer (Rehab)
• Karabo Morokane (Physio)
• Pieter du Plessis (Physio)
• Elzanne van Coller (Masseuse)
• Dr Org Strauss (Team Doctor)
• Tim Dlulane (Team Manager)
• Elias Bennet (Kit Master)

Jesse Kriel

Contract Extensions & Currie Cup Squad:

New Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais named an exciting squad for the upcoming ABSA Currie Cup competition, with a number of Springboks amongst the group that will try to win the coveted trophy for the 1st time in his tenure.

At the same time, the Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd named a number of high class contract extensions, confirming the Vodacom Blue Bulls as preferred home for many of the country’s most promising players.

Marais named the likes of Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Handré Pollard, Rudy Paige, Victor Matfield, Marcel van der Merwe, Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss in his extended group, but most of them are likely to be involved with South Africa’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup campaigns and could see very little if any ABSA Currie Cup action.

Even in their absence, the squad is packed with proven players that have won the Currie Cup before, as well as a number of Springboks not part of national coach Heyneke Meyer’s squad for 2015.

More rejuvenating for the coach though, is the new breed of talent bursting through the senior ranks.

“This is exciting times for us,” Marais said when he announced the squad in Pretoria on Tuesday.

“We have some of the best young players in the country who won national titles at Under 19 and Under 21 level and excelled for the Junior Springboks on the world stage. Coupled with that, we have some classy internationals available for this campaign and I am pretty confident that we will be a very competitive outfit this year,” Marais said.

“We are working very hard already. We are keen to get going and our 2 warm-up matches (EP Kings in PE on 17 July and Canon in Japan on 31 July) will be very important in our preparations. We are an inexperienced squad in that we have not played much together as a team, but all of these players are true blue in attitude, commitment and passion, so we just need to execute a game plan to complement their talent,” Marais said.

The High Performance Manager at the Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd, Xander Janse van Rensburg, at the same time confirmed a number of high profile contract extensions.

Contract Extentions:

The headline signing is fullback Jesse Kriel, who extended his BBC contract till October 2018.

“We are very pleased to have Jesse highlighting the huge number of younger squad players extending their contracts,” Janse Van Rensburg said.

“There can be no doubt that we are continuously attracting the best talent in the country to Pretoria and it is very satisfying to see them wanting to stay on. This is a good indication that players are happy at the way they develop here and at the opportunities we provide to them to play at a very competitive level.”

• Jesse Kriel – till October 2018
• RG Snyman (Current Junior Springbok) – till October 2017
• Hanro Liebenberg (Current Junior Springbok) – till October 2017
• Ivan van Zyl (Current Junior Springbok) – till October 2017
• Abongile Nonkontwana (Current Junior Springbok) – till October 2017
• Njabulo Gumede (Current Junior Springbok) – till October 2017
• Jason Jenkins (Current Junior Springbok) – till October 2018

Warrick Gelant and Tinus de Beer are already contracted till October 2016 and JT Jackson till October 2017

Currie Cup Squad:

• Fullback: Jesse Kriel (Springboks), Jurgen Visser, Jacques Rossouw, Warrick Gelant, Riaan Britz (Injured: Duncan Matthews, Ryan Nell – both September)
• Wing: Travis Ismaiel, Kefentse Mahlo, Jamba Ulengo, Jade Stighling
• Centre: Jan Serfontein (Springboks), William Small-Smith, Dries Swanepoel, Daniel Kriel, Burger Odendaal
• Flyhalf: Handré Pollard (Springboks), Tian Schoeman, Marais Schmidt, Louis Fouché
• Scrumhalf: Rudy Paige (Springboks), Francois Hougaard, Carlo Engelbrecht, André Warner, Ivan van Zyl (Injured: Piet van Zyl -till 2016)
• Loose Forward: Pierre Spies, Hanro Liebenberg, Clyde Davids, Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Deon Stegmann, Lappies Labuschagne, Roelof Smit (Injured: Ruan Steenkamp – August)
• Lock: Victor Matfield (Springboks), Marvin Orie, RG Snyman, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Jacques du Plessis, Flip van der Merwe, Jason Jenkins (Injured: Irné Herbst – 2016, Dennis Visser – September 2015)
• Props: Marcel van der Merwe (Springboks), Werner Kruger, Andrew Beerwinkel, Nqoba Mxoli, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Trevor Nyakane (Springboks), Dean Greyling, Morné Mellett, Justin Forwood, Neethling Fouché (Injured: Pierre Schoeman – August)
• Hooker: Adriaan Strauss (Springboks), Bandise Maku, Jaco Visagie, Corniel Els (Injured: Callie Visagie – middle August)

*Pierre Spies is contracted till October 2015, indicated but not confirmed early release in order to go to Japan.

*Record ABSA Currie Cup try scorer in a season, Bjorn Basson, decided to execute his Japan option in his contract and will leave for the Far East shortly. He will be back for the Vodacom Super Rugby season in 2016.