The Bulls have been South Africa’s top team in the United Rugby Championship this season. Therefore, there’s bound to be a few more Springboks.
In the recent Rugby World Cup in France, the Bulls had four Springboks. Namely, Kurt-lee Arendse, Willie Le Roux, Canan Moodie and Marco van Staden.
All of these men have continued their run of good form. Meaning, when they are fit again they are expected to join up with Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks. Unfortunately, two of these players are amongst the TEN injured Springboks set to miss the first Ireland test match. Meanwhile, several Bulls have put up their hands and steered their horns into the selection picture.
LIST OF BULLS LIKELY TO JOIN SPRINGBOKS
Gerhard Steenakamp
Johan Grobelaar
Akker van der Merwe
Marco van Staden
Elrich Louw
Cameron Hanekom
Dan Kriel
Canan Moodie
Kurt-Lee Arendse
Willie LE Roux
BULLISH BULLS BEEFY FRONT-ROW STAKES A CLAIM
Steenakamp earned a call up to the Springboks last year. Now, he is expected to feature more given the injury to Steven Kitshoff and his form in this year’s URC. Interestingly, the Bulls front-row of Steenakamp, Grobelaar and Wilco Louw have destroyed every scrum they have come against this season.
Most noticeably, they were seen driving the all-Springboks front-row of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch backwards during their URC clash a few weeks ago.
HIER KOM, HANEKOM! LOUW LOW-KEY IN THE PICTURE
Meanwhile, Louw (Elrigh) hand Hanekom have been two of the standout forwards for the Bulls and across the URC. Hanekom is arguably the find of the season. Whilst, Louw has given his all to earn another chance in the green and gold.
The powerful Bulls flanker has made an impressive 89 successful carries. This is the fourth highest of all the players in the URC. Moreover, he has been as astute and physical with the ball in hand as he has been without it. On defense, Louw has made 198 tackles, this is the fifth highest in the competition.
Hanekom’s man of the match display against Leinster epitomized his season. Moreover, The outplayed Irish number Eight Caelin Doris with the pressure on. This was against a side packed with Ireland internationals with everything to play for. Finally, Springbok legend Duane Vermeulen retired. Meanwhile, Jasper Wiese has copped a lengthy six-match suspension. Therefore, the number eight jersey is up for grabs and Haneko, deserves a chance at international level.
Meanwhile, Grobbelaar and van der Merwe have both been excellent for the Bulls this season. Grobbelaar has scored eight tries and won ten turnovers in the 2023/24 URC. Meanwhile, van Der Merwe has scored a staggering 12 tries this season.
These stats are as 17 July 2024, with the URC final still to be played.*
‘Eskom’ is expected to return to the Bok setup. Ultimately, Arendse and Moodie will return to the national side when they recover from their injuries.
Finally, Kriel has been one of the best players for the Bulls this season. He has scored 11 tries and made 17 clean breaks.
DYNAMIC DUO RULED OUT
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie will miss the Springboks opening test matches against Wales and Portugal. Additionally, they are set to miss the opening match against the Irish. Meanwhile, Rassie Erasmus and Jake White face a nervous weight for their update on Bok veteran, Le Roux.
He was substituted during the bulls 25-20 win over Leinster for an HIA after taking a bump. Initially, it seemed to just be a standard HIA protocol that was being followed. However, White has since confirmed that he took a bump to his neck. Here is the latest update on Springbok Le Roux, as reported on The South African.
