Ball-carrier Bothma roped in to beef up Bulls
by Chumani Bambani
2016-03-22 05:00:00.0
THE Bulls have bolstered their squad with the acquisition of former Sharks loose forward Renaldo Bothma.
Bulls coach Nollis Marais was beaming on Monday, not because his charges deprived the Sharks of victory in their 16-16 draw last Friday, but because he was chuffed with having brought the 26-year-old Namibian international to Loftus Versfeld.
"He is a guy with a fair bit of experience. I think he’s a really good ball-carrier," said Marais.
The 1.90m, 105kg loose forward will not immediately be slotted into the team. He has just recovered from a foot injury and spent yesterday undergoing medical tests while his new teammates sweated it out preparing for their first overseas trip (to Singapore to play the Sunwolves) of the season.
"He’s undergoing medicals this week. We will wait for the medical clearance first and see from there how it goes.
"He will definitely be a valuable addition to the squad," said Marais.
"We just want to make sure he gets used to our system first. We also have Steggies (Deon Stegmann) and Lappies (Labuschagne) making their returns (from injury) next week. That will make a huge difference. It’s good because I want to have those interesting and difficult selection posers."
The Bulls will leave later today for Singapore, where they are bracing themselves for a tough encounter with the Japanese newbies to Super Rugby.
The side from Pretoria is also expecting some tough conditions such as the humidity the Cheetahs experienced last week. "We’ll be used to those conditions because in December and January we trained in similar conditions here in Pretoria," said Marais.
"We know the Sunwolves will be difficult. I rate them highly as a team.
"They keep the ball quite well. They bring new interventions every time — a little chip here, a grubber there to put teams under pressure. We have to be ready for anything. Every week, there’s something new from their side which makes them difficult to prepare for."
Marais will be taking a squad of 25 — the same match 23 that drew with the Sharks on Friday, and prop Pierre Schoeman and scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl as precautionary cover.
Renaldo Bothma. PICTURE: GALLO IMAGES/STEVE HAAG
THE Bulls have bolstered their squad with the acquisition of former Sharks loose forward Renaldo Bothma.
Bulls coach Nollis Marais was beaming on Monday, not because his charges deprived the Sharks of victory in their 16-16 draw last Friday, but because he was chuffed with having brought the 26-year-old Namibian international to Loftus Versfeld.
"He is a guy with a fair bit of experience. I think he’s a really good ball-carrier," said Marais.
The 1.90m, 105kg loose forward will not immediately be slotted into the team. He has just recovered from a foot injury and spent yesterday undergoing medical tests while his new teammates sweated it out preparing for their first overseas trip (to Singapore to play the Sunwolves) of the season.
"He’s undergoing medicals this week. We will wait for the medical clearance first and see from there how it goes.
"He will definitely be a valuable addition to the squad," said Marais.
"We just want to make sure he gets used to our system first. We also have Steggies (Deon Stegmann) and Lappies (Labuschagne) making their returns (from injury) next week. That will make a huge difference. It’s good because I want to have those interesting and difficult selection posers."
The Bulls will leave later today for Singapore, where they are bracing themselves for a tough encounter with the Japanese newbies to Super Rugby.
The side from Pretoria is also expecting some tough conditions such as the humidity the Cheetahs experienced last week. "We’ll be used to those conditions because in December and January we trained in similar conditions here in Pretoria," said Marais.
"We know the Sunwolves will be difficult. I rate them highly as a team.
"They keep the ball quite well. They bring new interventions every time — a little chip here, a grubber there to put teams under pressure. We have to be ready for anything. Every week, there’s something new from their side which makes them difficult to prepare for."
Marais will be taking a squad of 25 — the same match 23 that drew with the Sharks on Friday, and prop Pierre Schoeman and scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl as precautionary cover.
