'Rookie' coaches go head-to-head in big derby
When the Blue Bulls host Western Province at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday it will be the continuation of a face-off that started 75 years ago – featuring the two most successful teams in South Africa.
Province with 33 Currie Cup titles (19 since the Bulls came into existence in 1938 and four shared) and the Bulls with 23 (and four shared) are by some distance the most successful teams in South Africa's premier domestic competition.
However, in comparison the rivalry between new Blue Bulls coach Nollis Marais and Western Province counterpart John Dobson is in its infancy.
The two, who will go head-to-head in a Currie Cup match for the first time, have followed the same path to getting the senior positions at their respective provinces.
Both coached at Varsity Cup level – Marais took University of Pretoria to two titles (2012 and 2013), while Dobson was involved at the University of Cape Town when they won in 2011 and also took them to the inaugural Final in 2008.
Both coached the Under-21 teams of their respective provinces, before moving up to the Vodacom Cup teams and finally getting appointed as Currie Cup coaches this year.
Marais, speaking to rugby365 ahead of Saturday's Loftus showdown, said these are the games coaches live for.
"I grew up with these games, going to Loftus [Versfeld], watching the Bulls against Western Province," the Bulls mentor said.
"To now be part of it as a coach is a huge occasion," he added.
He said the fledgling rivalry between him and Dobson is as much fun as it is intense.
"We have met a few times, most recently in the Vodacom Cup," Marais told rugby365.
"I have won twice and he won once," adding that they are good friends and talk often.
"It is going to be a very interesting battle," he said of Saturday's first Currie Cup meeting.
By Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
