Cape Town – “We’ve got a guy like Johan Goosen playing 10, and we know how good he is. We know when he’s on song, what a difference he makes to our team.”
That was the view of Jake White on Friday after he handed Goosen the Bulls No 10 jersey for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Zebre at Ellis Park (1pm kickoff).
The former Springbok flyhalf returned recently from a shoulder injury, and played the last quarter of last Friday’s 40-3 victory over Griquas in Pretoria.
Now he has been tasked with lighting the fire in a Bulls backline that took promising steps forward at Loftus Versfeld last week, but who will face a stiffer task against Zebre, who are a competitive unit despite having yet to record a victory this season.
“I think there will be a couple of different things. We’ve got a guy like Johan Goosen playing 10, and we know how good he is. We know when he’s on song, what a difference he makes to our team,” White said on Friday.
“You saw what guys like Canan (Moodie) and Kurt-Lee (Arendse) have done in a short space of time when they’ve come back, so I am hoping we’ll get the same sort of energy and skill level that I know Johan can do.
“The forwards are settled, but we’ve obviously got a new 10 and we’ve got Chris Smith on the bench, who’s played lots of rugby – and he’ll give us some extra added value at the back-end of the game.”
White is hoping that having Goosen operate alongside Bok stars Arendse and Moodie, as well as nippy scrumhalf Embrose Papier – who was outstanding against Griquas – will bring the best out of the former Cheetahs pivot.
“He’s here until 2026, and through injury, he has been in and out. But part of my brief is to get him to play his best rugby,” the Bulls boss said.
“He was the player of the season in France, but has come back now from a shoulder injury. If he’s playing his best rugby and combining with Canan and Kurt-Lee – and Embrose Papier as well, who played well last week – then all of a sudden, you have four Springboks in your backline.
“And when you get that sort of experience and that calibre of player playing together, it gives you a chance in big games. He’s back now, and I can’t wait to see how he does tomorrow.”
Coach Jake on Johan Goosen’s selection for tomorrow 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/npcLNLR3cb
— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) April 14, 2023
The Bulls have opted to include three players on the bench who will feature for the Currie Cup side against the Sharks on Friday – lock Janko Swanepoel, flank WJ Steenkamp and centre Cornal Hendricks.
“Those three replacements haven’t played much rugby in the last three or four weeks. If you look at a guy like Janko Swanepoel, he’s probably played 10 minutes, then 12 and 15 in the last three outings,” White said.
“So, he hasn’t had a proper game, and gets a start tonight. WJ the same thing: hasn’t had much game-time, and Cornal played 10 minutes last week.
“It’s basically making sure there is a bit of continuity. They know what the plan is and what we’ve been speaking about for the last couple of weeks, and it gives me an opportunity for them to get some game-time as well.”
Bulls team: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse 14 Canan Moodie 13 Stedman Gans 12 Harold Vorster 11 David Kriel 10 Johan Goosen 9 Embrose 8 Elrigh Louw 7 Cyle Brink 6 Marco van Staden 5 Ruan Nortjé (captain) 4 Ruan Vermaak 3 Mornay Smith 2 Johan Grobbelaar 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Bench: 16 Bismarck du Plessis 17 Dylan Smith 18 Francois Klopper 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 WJ Steenkamp 21 Keagan Johannes 22 Chris Smith 23 Cornal Hendricks.
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