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Blitzbok Kurt-Lee Arendse scored a double in his Bulls debut
- Bulls winger Kurt-Lee Arendse’s missed flight to Cape Town has led him to miss a chance to further impress Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber.
- The 24-year-old smashed the Sharks during Saturday’s Super Fan friendly at Loftus that the Bulls won comfortably, 49-28.
- The Stormers trio of Frans Malherbe, Sergeal Petersen and Seabelo Senatla will also miss out on this weekend’s action after sustaining injuries.
Bulls impressive winger Kurt-Lee Arendse will miss out on displaying his wares to Springbok rugby director Rassie Erasmus and head coach Jacques Nienaber after missing his flight to Cape Town on Monday.
Arendse was chosen by Springbok Green squad commissioner Erasmus after Stormers winger Seabelo Senatla withdrew from Saturday’s contest against Springbok Gold with a hamstring injury.
The Seven Arendse sprinter, who along with fellow Blitzbok Stedman Gans, smashed the Sharks at Loftus last Saturday during the “Super Fan Saturday” friendly that the Bulls won 49-28.
The 24-year-old scored a whimsical solo try that shattered the Sharks’ defense and had his second of the afternoon on the 24th.minute, by which time the Bulls were already out of sight.
Erasmus told the media during one of the press conferences leading up to this week’s Springbok Showdown that they were unsure of the exact reasons for Arendse’s missed flight, but admitted that the winger changed the opinion of the selectors on his inclusion in the system. original draft of 93 players dropped. up to 50.
“There was a miscommunication and he couldn’t get on his flight. But there can be many reasons for that,” Erasmus said.
“I’m not pointing at Kurt-Lee, but first we need to find out why he was late for a flight. We could have taken a later flight, but we decided to take Malcolm Jaer there and in the bank we have Mnombo Zwelindaba, who was one of the young boys.
“Kurt-Lee Arendse was a standout player for the Bulls. He’s one of those players that showed us on Saturday, ‘Listen, you guys were wrong. I didn’t do 93 [but] I really must play. ‘
“We love it when the players prove us wrong.”
An opportunity has opened for Skosan, who scored against the Stormers last weekend, to get back on the Springbok count after winning the last of their 12 internationals against Italy in 2017 under then-coach Allister Coetzee.
A replacement outside the rear, Zwelindaba, one of the eight “Young Guns” on the Springbok Green side, was a member of the Junior Springbok team that won the bronze medal at the 2019 Rugby World Under-20 Championship in Argentina. He, too, will have a window open to seize the opportunity to impress Bok’s higher ups.
Marginalized book object
Elsewhere at Springbok camp in Cape Town, Stormers tighthead Frans Malherbe has also been ruled out of the clash due to injury, with Lions front-row pair Ruan Dreyer and Carlu Sadie starting and taking the spot. banking on the Gold team, respectively. .
Winger Sergeal Petersen also suffered a torn soft muscle tissue before Stormers’ clash with the Lions last weekend. Springbok Courtnall Skosan has been appointed to take his place.
“In the Gold team, there is an injury to Frans Malherbe, so Ruan Dreyer, who is on the bench, will move to the starting position,” Nienaber said.
“We have Carlu Sadie from the Lions so he’ll be on the bench. We also have Sergeal Petersen (injured), who didn’t play the weekend because they (Stormers) were handling his load.
“We desperately wanted to see him, but he was injured last Friday when he was running at high speed. It is a soft tissue injury that we evaluated last night (Sunday) and we decided it would be too risky for him to play. We have Courtnall Skosan to replace him.”
“We really wanted to see all three players in action, but due to injuries we will not have that opportunity,” added Nienaber.
“With that said, Courtnall is a Springbok so he knows what to expect at this level, while Carlu and Mnombo have outgrown Junior Springbok structures and have great potential, so we are excited to see them in action.”
Springbok head coach and Gold team commissioner Jacques Nienaber admitted that the injuries were unfortunate, but he was excited to see what Skosan, Sadie and Zwelendaba would bring to the game.
“We really wanted to see all three players in action, but due to injuries we will not have that opportunity,” Nienaber said.
“With that said, Courtnall is a Springbok so he knows what to expect at this level, while Carlu and Mnombo have outgrown Junior Springbok structures and have great potential, so we are excited to see them in action.”
Springbok Gold and Green coaches Deon Davids and Mzwandile Stick will announce their squads for game day on Wednesday.
