Bulls prospect Juan Mostert set for top-flight debut

Juan Mostert has followed a similar road to Loftus Versfeld as the great Handre Pollard, and he could get his first chance to shine at senior level this week after being named on the Bulls bench for their United Rugby Championship match against Zebre in Parma on Friday night.

Mostert has been named as the flyhalf cover for starting No 10 Chris Smith, with the Bulls experiencing something of a flyhalf crisis at present as Morne Steyn is suspended for three weeks and Johan Goosen is out with a long-term knee injury.

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So the 21-year-old Mostert has been lured out of a deal with Major League Rugby team the Seattle Seahawks and offered a two-year deal by the Bulls, whose director of rugby, Jake White, has been tracking the talented young player’s career.

“Fortunately Juan had not quite done all the paperwork for the United States because Covid and visa requirements did not make it as easy as he thought it would. So we have signed him to stay,” White said on Thursday.

“He has a two-year deal and we’ll probably look to keep him for longer. He’s big and tall and he played for SA Schools and Paul Roos Gimnasium. He’ll be an understudy to Morne, Chris and Johan.

“He probably didn’t think he would get a chance so soon, but he’ll always be in the mix because he can play flyhalf, centre and fullback. Hopefully he can get on the field against Zebre and get a feel for this level.

“He’s had a bit of injury problems with a quad strain that has gone on for a while, but he’s got everything.”

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Pollard was also schooled in the Western Cape (Paarl Gim) before heading to Pretoria and Mostert is even more of a physical specimen, being four centimetres taller than the Springbok star at 6’4”.

Mostert starred for Maties in the Varsity Cup before making his decision to further his career in America.

But when White makes an advance, it’s probably best for a young rugby player to take up the offer.

With Steyn already 37 years old, Goosen turning 30 in July and Smith 27, Mostert could well be the flyhalf of the future for the Bulls.

Bulls team

Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp

Bench: Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel, WJ Steenkamp, Keagan Johannes, Juan Mostert, Canan Moodie