It might not look broken but Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais is adamant that the time for change within his team has come.
Marais will today name a Bulls team that will consist of some cosmetic changes but they will be necessary if they are to continue their evolution into a championship winning side.
While there have been rave reviews of the brand of rugby the Pretoria side are playing under Marais, there remain concerns over the inability of the team to dominate set-piece play.
Yesterday, the coach didn’t mince his wordsand promised that there would be change in his frontrow with veterans Werner Kruger and Dean Greyling set to sit out Friday’s Currie Cup encounter against the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld. Springbok discard Marcel van der Merwe is set to start in place of Kruger at tighthead prop while Junior Springboks Manqoba Mxoli and Pierre Schoeman will be left to fight it out for the starting berth at loosehead.
Marais’ selection dilemma doesn’t only end at prop as he will need to also make a decision on his midfield pairing with much consideration to another discarded Springbok in Jan Serfontein.
Serfontein is almost certain to start against the Cheetahs at inside centre, and the biggest poser for Marais will be who will partner him – Burger Odendaal or Dries Swanepoel.
“Marcel and Jan have played good rugby before but what they are lacking at the moment is game time. They are also coming back to a set-up where we are playing differently from what they are used to so it will be interesting to see how they go,” Marais said yesterday.
The Bulls boss was open about how their lack of dominance and control at the scrum has bothered him since the beginning of the season and in light of the injury to Greyling and the illness to Kruger, the time has come for a change.
“It is no secret that our scrumming has not been good and it has been a sore point for me. I gave it five weeks and everything has been tried but Marcel is back now and we will definitely play him. We are looking at either Mxoli or Schoeman to play so we will have a new frontrow. I also think it is time we also said we will back the youngsters so it is time for them to come through.”
As much as it seems as though Marais might go back in time and rekindle the midfield partnership that made Serfontein and Swanepoel household names in schoolboy rugby during their days at Grey College in Bloemfontein, consideration must also be taken in breaking up at centre pairing that has grown game by game.
“I think it is a good position to be in, whether I start with Jan or Burger or Dries, regardless they will all have a huge impact in the game.” - The Star