Bok 'hybrid' key for Bulls in Loftus derby
Marco Gerhardt van Staden is the first player in South Africa to have played the game at the university, franchise, and international levels in the same year.
On Saturday, in the #BIG North-South United Rugby Championship derby between the Bulls and Stormers at Loftus Versfeld, he will add another chapter to his already storied career.
The Springbok loose forward, code-named Eskom, will run out for his 100th first-class match for the Bulls when he comes off the bench in the rescheduled Round Eight URC match.
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann confirmed that Van Staden, 30, is on the bench as back row cover.
“Massive congratulations to Marco,” Ackermann said about Van Staden’s 100th appearance.
“We don’t want to make too much of a fuss about it.
“We appreciate what he has achieved, and that is awesome, but we have to focus on what we want to achieve as a team.
The Bulls coach confirmed that the 33-times capped Springbok will remain an option at hooker.
“He is not just on the bench as a loose forward option, but we are comfortable that he can play at hooker if he needs to.
“I think he is a world-class back row forward.
“We will, from one week to the next, see what role he will play.
“We are fortunate to have quality players like Jan-Hendrik [Wessels] and Johan [Grobbelaar].
“It makes it a tough selection, but we feel his impact in the back row can be big for us this week.”
* (WATCH as Springbok and Bulls hybrid Marco van Staden speaks about his journey on ‘the road less travelled’ to World Cup glory and 100 games for the Bulls…..)
Van Staden, who first started to work on his role as a back-up hooker during the Springboks’ World Cup campaign in France in 2023, said he has been filling in as a front row forward at the Bulls as a result of an injury to fellow Bok Armand van der Merwe.
“I’m happy to perform both roles,” he said of playing in the front row and back row.
“In general, play it [the two positions] are very similar.
“The challenge if throwing in [at the line-outs] and the scrumming.
“With coach Werner [Kruger at the Bulls] and Daan [Human] at the Boks, I have out in a lot of work to get comfortable in the scrums and the line-outs.
“If the Bulls want me to do both, I am happy. If the Springbok need me [at both] I am also happy.”
Turning to his long journey from Bekker, an agricultural school in the Magaliesberg region to the far West of Johannesburg, through Varsity Cup and then Bulls, he said it is a ‘massive privilege playing 100 games for the Bulls.
“I would not have it any other way,” he said of his challenging path to World Cup success with the national team.
“I have learnt a lot along the way, met great people – teams, coaches and players.
“Going the long way makes it all worth it.”
Van Staden was first utilized as ’emergency’ hooker cover during the Boks’ victorious World Cup campaign in 2023.
The revelation was made ahead of the pool match against Romania in Bordeaux.
The Bok management, led by Jacques Nienaber, at the time said had been prepping Van Staden and Fourie for the conversion back to hooker for some time.
“Practicing at hooker already started in the alignment camps,” Van Staden told @JanDKrugby at the time.
“I moved to the Bulls, on trial, as a hooker,” the Krugersdorp,-born and schooled Bok said of his arrival in Pretoria in 2017.
He made his Test debut, off the bench, against Argentina a year later.
“In my junior years I played hooker,” he said, adding: “I moved to flank after arriving in Pretoria.”
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
