Cape Town - If ever Johan Goosen and Sbu Nkosi wanted to prove a point, then Sunday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) clash between the Bulls and Sharks is the ideal time to do so.
Goosen will run out in the No 15 jersey and Nkosi No 11 at Loftus Versfeld (3pm kick-off) with similar goals ahead of the Springboks’ end-of-year tour to Europe.
The 30-year-old Goosen was left out of the Bok Test squad that will depart Johannesburg on Saturday to prepare for the opening game of the trip against Ireland in Dublin next weekend. Instead, Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus included him in the SA A side that will face Munster (November 10) and Bristol (November 17) in Europe.
Stormers star Damian Willemse is now the first-choice Bok flyhalf, with two other Capetonians in Manie Libbok and Sacha Mngomezulu also part of the 35-strong Test squad.
Goosen was initially earmarked as the No 10 back-up to Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies, but despite those two pivots being unavailable, the Bulls playmaker missed the Test cut as the Bok management explained on Friday he has had only 160 minutes of game-time in the URC since making his comeback from an 11-month knee injury lay-off.
And now his task of showing Nienaber and Co that he is still able to play big-time rugby was made tougher by his selection at fullback for the Bulls, with Chris Smith at No 10 as coach Jake White made six changes to the starting XV that beat Benetton 44-22 last week.
But Goosen has played in the last line of defence before, and will look to get into the No 10 channel as well to provide another dimension to the Bulls attack.
The former Cheetahs star, though, needs to get involved with ball-in-hand and make an impact if he is to convince the Bok management that he is back in form – something he battled to do in the No 15 jersey against Edinburgh earlier in the season.
Nkosi, on the other hand, needs to prove the faith that Nienaber has placed in him is valid following his selection to the Test squad.
The 26-year-old played just once for the Bulls in the URC before being called back into the Bok squad recently, and was then reportedly sent home from Ireland after an apparent team protocol breach.
He missed the Munster and Benetton games, but was still invited to the Bok training camp this week.
At his best, Nkosi was pushing Cheslin Kolbe for the Bok No 14 berth, but he needs to rediscover his touch if he wants to be a serious Test contender on the November tour.
That journey begins against his former Durban team on Sunday, so what better occasion than that to show his class once more?
Another man on a mission will be utility back Cornal Hendricks, who returns to the Bulls side at outside centre, having done duty at wing previously.
The 34-year-old was chosen in the SA A squad , and if he continues his consistent displays, he could add to his 12 Test caps in the weeks to come.
Bulls team: 15 Johan Goosen 14 David Kriel 13 Cornal Hendricks 12 Harold Vorster 11 Sbu Nkosi 10 Chris Smith 9 Zak Burger 8 WJ Steenkamp 7 Marco van Staden 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain) 5 Ruan Nortje 4 Walt Steenkamp 3 Francois Klopper 2 Bismarck du Plessis 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Replacements: 16 Jan-hendrik Wessels 17 Simphiwe Matanzima 18 Mornay Smith 19 Janko Swanepoel 20 Ruan Vermaak 21 Embrose Papier 22 Stravino Jacobs 23 Wandisile Simelane.
IOL Sport