Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White says Cameron Hanekom could play a similar role to Ireland’s Josh van der Flier in Saturday’s Vodacom URC match against the Sharks at Kings Park.
White has moved Hanekom from eighthman to openside flank, with Cobus Wiese at blindside flank and captain Elrigh Louw at No 8.
“It’s not specifically for this week, it’s more about trying combinations and looking at how the shape of our game evolves with three loose forwards like that at our disposal,” White told the media on Friday.
“When I was Springbok coach we had Juan Smith, who is Cobus-like in shape; Schalk Burger, who is Cameron-like in shape; and Elrigh’s body shape is like Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies and Joe van Niekerk.
“Rassie Erasmus played 6 [for the Springboks] with Gary Teichmann at 8 and Andre Venter at 7, and that was almost a perfect combination. You had this massive man in Venter, a bit like Cobus, an 8 in Rassie who could play 6 and had the skills to link up with the backs, and an 8 in Teichmann who was a lineout option and captain.
“Cameron has played really well at 8, but I’d like to see him playing 6 in a combination, a little like how Josh van der Flier plays [for Leinster and Ireland]. If Cameron gets the ball on the edge, he can run like an outside back, and then we get Cobus and Elrigh to carry in the midfield.”
White said Saturday’s loose-forward combination was one of many boxes he needed to tick ahead of the URC playoffs.
“We’re only in round seven, and I want to look at all the options in terms of how we can become the best we can be. There’s a lot more to this selection. We’re not just looking at how we can be better tomorrow or next week, but in the next couple of seasons.”
MORE: Bulls tweak team for Sharks clash
In changes to the Bulls backline that lost to the Northampton Saints at Loftus last week, Harold Vorster partners up with Stedman Gans in the centres, while Springbok Canan Moodie swaps jersey 13 for 11, with Devon Williams moving to the bench where he is joined by the returning Sergeal Petersen.
“Canan could always go back into the midfield [during the Sharks game] and Devon to fullback in place of Willie, [le Roux] or he could go on the right wing in place of Seb [Sebastian de Klerk],” White explained.
“You could also have two real speedsters in Sergeal and Devon on the wings with Willie at fullback. The Sharks kick a lot and if you get space from kick-returns with those kind of outside backs, and have Cameron on the edge, at the backend of a game, it gives us another shot in the barrel to score long-range tries.
“But it all depends on how the game unfolds and the weather,” he added.
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
