Reinhardt Ludwig discusses moving to openside, homework from Bok camp

Bulls stand-in captain Reinhardt Ludwig said while he is not entirely comfortable with playing at openside flank yet, he appreciates the opportunity to grow in a new position.

The 22-year-old also learned much at his first Springbok alignment camp, which ended in Cape Town last week.

Ludwig, who started at tighthead lock and who has been captaining the Bulls in place of the injured Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw and Marcell Coetzee, has drawn praise from coach Jake White for both his leadership and development as a player since he made his professional debut at the club back in 2021.

But in February, White admitted he wondered whether he had unfairly given the youngster dual responsibilities of captaining and calling the lineouts without the benefit of a first-choice goal-kicker in the side. That followed the unexpected 29–19 loss to the Sharks at Loftus.

Now, with the Bulls in better form and the line-outs, while not perfect but looking somewhat better, Ludwig gave the media an honest self-appraisal of his own development and adjustment to number seven, where he played against the Stormers in the Bulls’ last match.

Ludwig enjoys exposure of a new position

“To be honest I enjoy playing lock at the moment but it’s because I have played more minutes in that saddle,” Ludwig said.

“I only started playing flank after school so it is still new to me. I know there is still a lot to work on, a lot to grow.

“But I do think it is good to get exposed to as many positions as possible. I think you learn a lot playing in a new position, seeing the game from a new perspective, challenging yourself.”

He said the greatest change involved in playing openside is he is now on the edge of play.

“You are not in the heat of things the whole time. Sometimes you have to wait a few phases for the ball to come, which is frustrating.

“Sometimes you are looking for work but to stay in the system you have to stay on the edge.

Ludwig gets homework during Springbok alignment camp

The utility forward said he had learnt much at his first Springbok alignment camp. There, he joined meetings for both the locks and the loose forwards.

“It was amazing to be in that professional environment to see how [Rassie Erasmus’ coaching staff] operate, how they think. To see how they want their players to play.”

He said he learned position-specific skills while the group collective developed as well. “Defensively, coach Jerry [Flannery] gave us a lot of things, coach Felix [Jones] gave us a lot of things to focus on in the next couple of games.

“They said there are 12 weeks before the new camp is in Stellenbosch, I think. They said we have 12 weeks to work on the stuff, to make us better.

“They are really professional and they know everything we do, which is quite scary. But I learned a lot and I enjoyed it.”