VIDEO: The new 'Os' is the epitome of rampaging Bulls
Jan-Hendrik Wessels is only 23 and has just three Test caps.
However, he is already likened to the legendary Springbok loosehead prop and two-time World Cup winner Jacobus Petrus du Randt – affectionately known as Os.
Wessels, who started in two Tests as a loosehead last year and played off the bench in the third, has one asset Os did not bring to the Boks – his versatility.
At school, he played in the front row, the second row and the back row.
Since his move to the Bulls in Pretoria, from Bloemfontein, be bas ‘settled’ in the front row – hooker and loosehead prop.
It was with the No.1 jersey, which Du Randt famously wore in two World Cup victories (1995 and 2007) that Wessels put down a real marker at the weekend.
He produced a Man of the Match performance in the Bulls’ impressive 26-19 demolition of the defending United Rugby Championship champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun this past Friday.
It is a scoreline that flatters the Scottish outfit, as they scored two tries in the final four minutes when the game was long over as a contest.
Wessels produced the kind of performance that had most pundits waxing lyrical.
He made 19 tackles (12 inside the first half-hour), including the try-saving ingoal tackle for which he raced back 50 metres at a crucial stage in the game, when the Warriors pressed hard to get the upper hand.
That is not to belittle his several strong carries and a turnover, to go with his powerful scrumming.
However, that chase from the halfway line to effect a try-saving tackle is what indicated that this Bulls team is on the march.
Bulls Director of Rugby, not often one to praise individuals, admitted it was a special performance.
(WATCH as Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White talks about the new ‘Os du Randt’ of the game…..)
“He’s just been nicknamed Os du Randt,” White said.
“I don’t know what the reason is, but his new nickname in the team is Os du Randt.
“It’s reminiscent of the days when I was lucky enough to coach Os [at the 2007 World Cup].
“Jan-Hendrik was a lock at school and then a prop at school, then he was a hooker and then he adapted to become a prop again.
“It just makes our squad so much stronger.
“He epitomised how we can produce back-to-back efforts [against Munster and Glasgow in the URC], because his back-to-back efforts were outstanding.”
Jan-Hendrik Wessels 😤
Incredible work from the big Bulls prop to stop what looks like a certain try for Glasgow ⛔️
📺 Stream #URC live: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/vHfovJtMuH
β SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 25, 2025
The Bulls put down a huge marker in the last match of a month-long European tour, beating defending champions Glasgow Warriors 26-19 in a brutal United Rugby Championship Round 16 match.
Not even a very late change, with Juann Else coming in for Marcel Coetzee – the veteran loose forward ruled out due to a knock to the knee picked up during the warm-up – could halt the visitors’ charge.
The win allowed the Bulls to close the gap on the Warriors to just one point.
Two tries in the last four minutes earned Glasgow the losing bonus point that kept them in second place.
Having learned from the loss in the 2024 Final, the Bulls displayed sublime game management and tactics to keep the home team under constant pressure until the final few minutes, when they took their collective feet off the gas.
Their set-piece play, especially in the scrums that earned them numerous penalties, laid the platform.
They were also brutal on defence, and some great defensive sets by the visitors blunted any Warriors attack.
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πΌππππππ πππ for Wessels! 🤩@Vodacom #URC | #GLAvBUL | #KidsRound pic.twitter.com/hpho6ydRUB
β vodacomrugby (@VodacomRugga) April 25, 2025
