Burger firmly on Bok radar

SPOTLIGHT: The Springboks are keeping a close eye on Bulls scrumhalf Zak Burger.

The 23-year-old was in top form for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship and it might not be long before we see him in the green and gold.

His service to the Bulls’ backline has been one of the best in the tournament and he has a good boot on him as well.

When Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was asked if there is still interest in the Currie Cup from a coaching point of view, he used Burger’s progression from Kimberley to Pretoria as an example.

“Of course, I’m interested in the Currie Cup,” said Nienaber.

“I talked about this with Rassie [Erasmus] the other day. When we get to look at matches, we look at players’ performances and we do some analysis on them.

“Zak Burger is someone we watched when he was at Griquas.

“In one of the online meetings we had, Rassie mentioned his name and a few weeks later he was contracted with the Bulls

“He is someone we are currently looking at.

“We are watching his tackling and his passing and how he just does things on the field.”

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Currie Cup talent

Meanwhile, Griquas and the Pumas are a surprising match-up for Saturday’s Currie Cup Final.

However, Nienaber believes it is a testament to the amount of talent in South Africa.

“It’s an outstanding achievement for Griquas and the Pumas,” said the Bok coach.

“I think there is so much depth in South Africa.

“The Pumas and Griquas are domestic franchises and others are international franchises.

“If you look at the budgets of those two teams – the so-called small teams – it is an example of the talent that South Africa has.

“It’s the first-ever Final for the Pumas and it’s the first time for the Griquas since 1970, so it’s outstanding and we are watching it.

“There are over 100 PONI [Players Of National Interest] that we are keeping track of in South Africa and a lot of them played in these [Currie Cup] semifinals.

“The Pumas have one or two PONI players and the Griquas don’t have any at the moment and look how well they did.

“I’m not saying the Cheetahs and Bulls did anything wrong, but it just shows how much talent there is.

“We are keeping a close eye on them.”

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