‘The real deal again’: White a happy man as Van Staden returns to form

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has expressed delight at the return to form of utility forward Marco van Staden following injury and the impact that will have on the rest of his season as the Bulls chase United Rugby Championship (URC) and Challenge Cup titles.

Marco ‘Eskom’ van Staden has only played a handful of games this season due to injury and in fact last played a full 80 minutes when the Bulls crushed Ulster in October last year.

He returned from injury in the Bulls’ 29–19 defeat to the Sharks at Loftus two weeks ago. He looked out of sorts, however, and was substituted at half-time for Mpilo Gumede.

Van Staden was anything but quiet during last weekend’s 31–19 win over the Lions at Loftus and it might be considered ironic his formidable return to form coincided with the implementation of load shedding across South Africa.

Marco ‘Eskom’ van Staden lights up Loftus

Van Staden played the full 80 minutes, carrying the ball well and making a difference at the breakdown. This included making a steal in the Bulls’ 22 in the first half to reverse momentum at the time.

To top it all off, the 29-year-old Springbok and World Cup-winner scored the Bulls’ fifth and final try in the 55th minute to put the game well out of reach of the visitors from Johannesburg

White said Van Staden “looked like he was the real deal again”.

“I wasn’t sure how long Marco van Staden could last,” the Bulls boss confessed.

The coach added it was wonderful to have versatile players such as Van Staden, Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who could move around the front and back rows as needed.

“We are sitting in a very good position where we can have games where Marco can sit on the bench as a hooker and not necessarily play him in that game because he could end up going to the side of the scrum [as flanker] for a game as well.”

Van Staden improved as the game went on

White said his message to Van Staden ahead of the Lions clash was that it was the coach’s responsibility to get him back into form.

“He has been carrying an injury for a helluva long time and by his own admission hasn’t been playing as well as he knows he can and he’s been away at Bok tours where he plays one game in six weeks or he plays 30 minutes in a month.

“It’s just the way it is. He just needs game time. I said to him, ‘We’re going to find a way in which we get you… time on the field. Because there is no doubt as the game went on he was getting better.”