VIDEO: Ackermann's cunning captaincy call explained
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann believes retaining veteran Springbok Marcell Coetzee as captain for their United Rugby Championship crunch match against Edinburgh on Friday is in the best interest of the team.
Ruan Nortje, the team’s regular captain, only recently returned from a break after international duty.
Coetzee captained the team in the impressive come-from-behind (26-24) win over Section Paloise in a nail-biting Champions Cup Round Four face-off at the Stade du Hameau last Friday.
Even with Nortje back in the starting XV, Coetzee retains the armband.
The pack shows calculated rotations amid a demanding schedule, while the backline maintains its explosive edge.
“It was a discussion I had with both of them,” Ackermann said about the captaincy call, adding: “They are teammates and friends.”
The coach described it as an ‘easy’ conversation.
* (WATCH as Bulls coach Johan Ackermann explains why ‘club captain’ Ruan Nortje will not lead the team in a URC crunch match against Edinburgh on Friday…..)
“Ruan is the club captain.
“We all know he’s the is the overall captain, but Marcell has really done a good job for us last week, and we just wanted that continuity from a captaincy perspective.”
Ackermann said the two Boks are ‘supportive’ of each other.
“They always bounce ideas off each other. On the field, they help each other.”
The other big advantage is that Nortje now has the ‘freedom’ to just play his game and focus on the line-outs.
“If either one of them is not on the field, the other can just run with the captaincy,” Ackermann added.
“They’ve played together so many times, they always feed off each other.
“It was an easy discussion just to keep that a bit of continuity with Marcel, and that brings normally also the best of Marcel as a captain.
“It is good for us.”
Ackermann said the Edinburgh team, with eight Scottish internationals and four A-Team players in the matchday squad, will be a real test of his team’s resolve.
“They are one of the teams that kick the most of all the teams,” he told @JanDKrugby, adding: They are very good in the air.
“They kick a lot of contestables, probably because of the conditions.”
Friday’s prediction is a high chance of precipitation and a moderate breeze at kick-off.
“We have to win the aerial battle.”
With lost of rain around the Scottish capital this week and Friday’s outlook, it is likely to be a battle of attrition.
“They expect the conditions to change a little bit, so we’ll have to adapt when we get to the stadium and see what it is all about.
“However, I feel it is going to be about muscle, attrition up front and the team that’s going to handle the kicking game the best and control the territory.”
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
