‘The coaches know what they want’ — Bulls captain Coetzee on Bok snub

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee admits he may not be what the Springbok coaches are looking for after his recent controversial snubs.

Coetzee has been in amazing form for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Currie Cup competitions.

However, the 31-year-old was not considered for the recent Bok alignment camps, as young blood such as his teammate Elrigh Louw and Stormers star Evan Roos seemed to be preferred by the national selectors. Roos missed the first camp in Durban and was brought in for the next one after a huge outcry.

As the Boks prepare to defend their Rugby World Cup title in France in 2023, players are doing their best to be part of the team and Coetzee admitted he would want to be included. The player, who has more than 30 Bok caps, has vowed to continue doing his best on the field with the hope of being called again.

“Ultimately, you can only control what you can and that’s on the field — you just try to give everything and enjoy it while you can. Obviously, you will always want a spot there,” Coetzee said. “It’s a pinnacle for an SA rugby player, but ultimately the coaches know what they want and the players who they are backing. You acknowledge that and just try to improve where you can and maybe you can be in their favour again.”

Coetzee has led the Bulls to the quarterfinals of the URC and they are leading the standings in the Currie Cup where they are looking to win the domestic title for a third consecutive time.

“It has its fair challenges. We want to win every tournament that we enter. That’s just what we are and what we stand for,” the skipper said. “It was a bit of a challenge rotating players, getting the right mix to play this game and then the URC game.

“We have to compliment the coaches on how they structured the planning because there’s a lot of work behind the scenes as well, but it's ultimately a big challenge which we are embracing.

“The players said early in the season we will adapt and go with it. We want to be competitive no matter where we play.”

The Bulls will welcome the Lions in their next Currie Cup match at Loftus Stadium on Saturday (5pm) before travelling to Wales for their final URC pool match against Ospreys on Friday May 20 (9.10pm).