Coetzee, Wessels aim to lead charge for semis in Edinburgh

The Bulls have successfully made the switch to knockout rugby, as shown by their triumph over Bayonne last weekend.

Their next game is a Challenge Cup quarterfinal in Edinburgh on Saturday, before they return to the United Rugby Championship (URC), where they are now placed third.

Eighthman and captain Marcell Coetzee and front row replacement Jan-Hendrik Wessels have both had outstanding matches in a pack that dominated Bayonne, allowing the Bulls’ backs to hold sway in a 32-22 win.

It’s a recipe that works well for knockout games, with the Bulls eyeing a semifinal place in the Challenge Cup, considering they are 14 points and five places ahead of Edinburgh in the URC standings.

Then the Bulls have four round-robin matches remaining in the URC, every one crucial as they try to nail down a place in the top two and the home advantage that would bring for a quarterfinal and semifinal.

They will remain in Europe for the rest of April as they resume their URC campaign with visits to Munster (April 19) and defending champions Glasgow Warriors (April 25).

The semifinals of the Challenge Cup follow in the first weekend of May.

“We’ve embraced knockout rugby mindset,” Coetzee said.

“The win over Bayonne sets the mood for the tour, we draw a lot of confidence from it, and we will feed off that.

“Our mindset is to compete to the best of our abilities as we are playing knockout rugby now,” he told SportsBoom.co.za.

“Collectively, as a pack, we stepped up well.

“We know the French mentality is to choose a big pack and be physical, but we stood up to them and did not let them get a maul try, so that’s a big positive.

“Edinburgh will pose a different challenge, just about their whole pack plays for Scotland.

“We have a lot of respect for Edinburgh, and the breakdowns will be a big contest.

“Edinburgh have internationals there and they know how to be smart.

“That’s going to be a tough battle for us, and we can’t be slow to the ball.

“They like to play at a high tempo, and they rely on a lot of ruck speed to be quick and find holes in the defence.

“We’ll have to be up to it defensively, be smart, make the right decisions at the right times and stay connected as a defence.

“Depending on the weather, the kicking game could also be massive, we need to make sure we’re playing in the right areas and to our strengths.

“Our nine and 10 and the back three all controlled the game really well against Bayonne.

“We will try to play the pressure-cycle to our advantage, and our set-piece is going very well, so we can try to set things up for our backs,” Coetzee said.

While exciting Springbok Wessels only played the second half, he had a major impact.

The 23-year-old was part of a huge scrummaging effort, starting at loosehead prop and then moving to hooker; he carried hard, defended stoutly and even launched counterattacks from the back, offloading like a backline player.

Wessels’ line-out throwing was also excellent in some high-pressure moments.

“Each individual has a job to do, and the eight players coming off the bench are almost as important as those starting,” Wessels told SportsBoom.co.za.

“My responsibility when I come on is to do my utmost best, whether I’m wearing number one, 17, two or 16.

“We are showing respect to each other and fighting for one another on the field, trying to find a way to win.

“We’re sticking to our strong points and playing for each other.

“I’ve been working hard to prepare myself for the line-out detail and time under the belt at hooker has obviously helped my throwing.

“Having good locks makes it easy, and then it’s just about picking the right options.” — SportsBoom