Marcell Coetzee relishing All Blacks return after 12-year wait

SPOTLIGHT: Fourteen years after making his Springbok debut, Marcell Coetzee finds himself in a position few players in the Bulls squad can match: preparing to lead his side into battle against the All Blacks with the benefit of more than a decade of Test rugby behind him.

The 35-year-old loose forward made his Springbok debut in Durban against England on June 9, 2012, at just 21 years old. Now, 14 years later, his experience will be one of the Bulls’ most valuable assets when they face New Zealand at Loftus Versfeld.

Coetzee has won 31 Springbok caps and has faced the All Blacks four times. His most recent encounter came in 2014, when South Africa famously edged New Zealand 27-25 at Ellis Park thanks to a late Pat Lambie penalty.

More than a decade on, Coetzee has the opportunity to face the All Blacks again – this time as the leader of a Bulls side containing a host of talented youngsters.

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“I’ve been very privileged to have played against them four times,” Coetzee said. “The last one, 2014, to get the opportunity to play them again after all these years, that’s awesome,” Coetzee told the media during a training session at the HPC at Tukkies.

For a player who has become one of the Bulls’ most consistent performers, his value extends beyond his Test record. Coetzee is a natural leader, a relentless worker and a player who has regularly produced some of his best performances in the Bulls jersey.

His ability to carry hard close to the line and his appetite for the physical exchanges have made him a key figure in Pretoria, but it is the experience accumulated over 14 years at the highest level that could prove particularly important against New Zealand.

Coetzee’s international career began under Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer, who recognised his potential and brought him into the squad for the 2012 series against England. His debut marked the beginning of a career that would take him around the world and expose him to some of the toughest competitions in professional rugby.

In 2015, he moved to Japan, joining the Heat in the Japanese Top League before making the switch to Ulster in Ireland in the 2016-17 season. He signed a three-year deal with the province and continued to make an impact despite recurring knee problems.

His performances during the 2020-21 season, when he emerged as a joint top try-scorer and was named Pro14 Players’ Player of the Season, helped pave the way for his return to South Africa.

In December 2020, it was confirmed that Coetzee would join the Bulls on a three-year deal.

Since then, he has established himself as one of the key figures in the Bulls setup, combining his physicality with the leadership that comes from having experienced international rugby at the highest level.

That experience will be particularly valuable this weekend.

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The Bulls have a group of young players who will be facing a level of intensity and pressure they may not have encountered before. Coetzee understands that the occasion can serve as an important measuring stick for them.

“You can just see the buzz in the youngsters’ faces when the game comes up this weekend,” he said.

“Not everybody’s going to get that opportunity, maybe at the international level. But this is a great opportunity for the guys to really exert themselves and envision themselves where they want to go in the future.

“That’s going to be the challenge for the individual – to see where he is and how he handles the pressure going into the international game and the mental aspect of it,” he said.

“It’s a great measure for players, young and new, to see where you stand now, where you are in your career.”

There is also a sense that the magnitude of the fixture requires a different mindset.

For most players, a season-opening warm-up might mean a club fixture against familiar opposition. For the Bulls, their preparation comes against the All Blacks.

“We used to play club games and stuff for warm-up, but this is definitely a new level,” Coetzee said.

“So, the mindset has to be really from up there.”

Coetzee knows the intensity, the pressure and the occasion. He knows what it feels like to stand on the field when New Zealand are on the other side.